Seven-time defending champion Lyon is already opening up a gap on its French league rivals. September 25th, 2008
Seven-time defending champion Lyon is already opening up a gap on its French league rivals. And the team will look to improve on its four-point lead against Nancy on Saturday.
Lyon strengthened its squad with several new players, and with others coming back to form or returning from injury, the team is perhaps even stronger than in recent years. The club is also financially healthy and can afford to keep spending – a bad sign for Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain.
After six games, Lyon leads with 16 points, while Marseille follows with 12 and Toulouse has 11. Marseille has a tricky match at Le Mans on Saturday, and Toulouse travels to Valenciennes on Sunday.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas met with financial analysts on Wednesday and revealed that OL Groupe – the club’s holding company which incorporates hotel and leisure facilities – made a net profit of ?20.1 million (US$29.5 million) over the 2007-08 season.
Aulas plans to invest ?350 million (US$515 million) for a new stadium to be ready by 2012, and he knows that with striker Karim Benzema attracting interest from Europe’s biggest clubs he can raise cash easily.
The 20-year-old Benzema has five years left on his Lyon contract, and Aulas said he would only sell him for ?100 million (US$147 million).
“It’s a private agreement. It’s a commitment between Karim and the club,” Aulas said. “Our objective is still to win the Champions League with Benzema.”
Lyon defender Cris, recently back from a knee injury, is confident this current Lyon squad is the best for many years.
“There are two players for every position,” Cris told Lyon’s Web site. “The coach has several options for every match and the bench is always very strong. In the previous matches, we saw that the substitutes could make a big difference.”
Ghana captain John Mensah has been helping out as an emergency left back as Fabio Grosso recovers from a rib injury, while strikers Fred and Frederic Piquionne are offering good support to Benzema – the league’s top scorer with five goals.
Marseille lost to Sochaux in the League Cup on Wednesday and coach Eric Gerets has told his players to snap out of their slump quickly.
“There are big matches coming up and we can’t let our rivals get too far ahead,” Gerets said. “We can’t miss out.”
Also Saturday, it’s: Auxerre vs. Le Havre; Caen vs. Nantes; Rennes vs. Nice; Sochaux vs. Lorient; and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Grenoble.
Monaco faces Lille, and Bordeaux takes on Saint-Etienne on Sunday.