Football Season Guide

Lyon approach the new Ligue 1 season with the benefit of recent competitive football, having featured in the Champions League and stunned Manchester City to reach the semi-final. Such matches should ensure that Rudi Garcia’s men hit the ground running in the new season, but there are equally major doubts over the futures of numerous players, with Houssem Aouar and Memphis Depay among the top performers would could leave the club unless they achieve a miracle in the European Cup. Indeed, OL performed woefully in the league last season, and while they reached the Coupe de la Ligue final – played at the end of July against PSG – returning no silverware and finishing outside the European spots was an embarrassment for the side, even amidst a season that they appreciated would be transitional. Champions League progress has helped, but they have limitedf money to play with in the transfer window, although they have already completed some work by adding Tino Kadewere from Ligue 2 side Le Havre, where he was prolific. The step up is a significant one, though. In Moussa Dembele and Karl Toko Ekambi, Lyon already have two of the best forwards in the league. Even allowing for Aouar and Memphis departing, there is still good creativity in midfield with Jeff Reine-Adelaide, while Maxence Caqueret and Bruno Guimaraes both look strong players, albeit still in their early days in the first team. Garcia has shown an appetite for a 3-5-2 formation but OL are lacking quality at left wing-back, with Maxwel Cornet something of a makeshift option there and someone who is very weak defensively. Additionally, the defence is capable when asked to absorb pressure, but when it plays with a higher line against weaker opponents it is prone to errors, which is one of the reasons why Lyon were so poor at home last season.