At OL Park,
It must not be common to have 68% ball possession and 19 shots to 5 in a first leg of a European Cup away, before scoring 35% and 4 shots to 14 on the return to your stadium. But this OL 2025-2026 is definitely capable of anything, like its crazy sequence, from 13 victories in a row (from mid-December to mid-February) to a series in the wake of 7 unsuccessful matches (4 defeats and 3 draws) of which Paulo Fonseca does not see the end.
Euphoric and legitimately in search of a first title since 2012, between the Coupe de France (quarter table without PSG) and the Europa League (leaders of the first phase and without any Top 4 of a major championship in their part of the table), the Lyonnais lost everything in two weeks. Including a small cushion of 5 points ahead of OM for direct qualification for the Champions League (for 3rd in Ligue 1).
“Can’t press at 10”, really?
But how, after the elimination on penalties against Lens, during the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France (2-2, 4-5 on March 5), were OL able to get to this point through another decisive match with the XXL stakes played at home, Thursday against Celta Vigo (0-2, 1-1 in the first leg)? Because even if Clinton Mata defended himself afterwards, OL were immediately pressed/suffocated/trapped by the current 6th in Liga, well before the expulsion of Moussa Niakhaté in the 19th minute of play.
From a 4-3-2 until half-time to a 5-3-1 at the restart, with a lonely and ghostly Endrick in front, Paulo Fonseca seemed to be powerless on his bench, like all of OL. Against an opponent who had appeared extremely viable a week earlier, we were therefore close to nothing in the collective proposition, which is not inevitable for all teams reduced to 10. “It’s really difficult to play for so long in numerical inferiority, especially against a team with the quality of Celta Vigo,” insisted the Lyon coach on Thursday evening. It was impossible, with 10 men, to press high against a team like that. »
Clinton Mata wants to “take responsibility”
OK, so it was totally impossible to offer the slightest credible adversity from the sole of Niakhaté, even if the return of Afonso Moreira (more than those of Pavel Sulc and Malick Fofana) allowed 2-3 sparks? Like his coach, Clinton Mata seems to be going in this direction: “We wanted to destabilize this opponent but we played practically the entire match with ten players”.
So no regrets a priori given the scenario, even if this chosen posture did not prevent Corentin Tolisso from fighting to contain his tears at the final whistle. What a continuation for this group, miraculous in Ligue 1 last summer, then author of a stunning start to the season and start to winter, which aroused hopes and dreams of trophies among the supporters. In vain?
“We must assume and take our responsibilities,” says Clinton Mata. We’re not going to give up today, we have to bring back the energy we had in our series of 13 victories. We still have one goal: to finish in the Top 3.” His teammate Orel Mangala is on the same line: “We have to get back up, we have a match to play on Sunday (at 3 p.m. against Monaco, between 4th and 6th in L1) and that’s what we have to concentrate on.”
After Old Trafford, the derby took a nosedive in 2025
Paulo Fonseca is well placed to know the consequences of such European disillusionment: “I cannot forget that after Manchester United (from 2-4 for OL to 5-4 at Old Trafford in April 2025), it was difficult to play at Saint-Etienne (2-1). There, we have the same situation, with a stronger team, Monaco.”
Our file on OL
In view of Lyon’s black streak, which contrasts with ASM’s 6 consecutive successes in Ligue 1, the mission seems extremely tough, even if the infirmary is finally emptying little by little. “The priority is to mentally recover the players,” notes Paulo Fonseca. This moment is frustrating because we believed that we could go far in these competitions. We must react. »And if possible this time without any crazy on his part, like in the sequence of “Akouokougate” against Man U and ASSE.
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