Lyon squeaked past Lille to advance to the final of the last ever Coupe de la Ligue in large part thanks to a stunning strike from Houssem Aouar. Christophe Galtier’s side was the better club on the day, but were once again let down by a combination of a lack of finishing and insufficient final […]

Lyon manager Rudi Garcia adopted a traditional 4-3-3 system – electing to field his three most technical midfielders. The outcome completely overwhelmed Pablo Sousa and Bordeaux, who struggled to establish their buildup play and negotiate a more athletic OL press. Tactical analysis and match report by K.T. Stockwell. Significant injuries to Memphis Depay and Jeff […]

Neither side was able to establish convincing offensive spells and the match devolved into physical midfield battles and moments of individual flair going forward. The lack of potent ball possession meant that the most dangerous chances came in transition and in the end it was Lille who were able to capitalize – Jonathan Ikoné notching […]

In the main event of this weekend’s Ligue 1 action, Marseille could count on a very inspired Dimitri Payet, who scored a double to lead them to victory. Despite an early red card in the second half, André Villas-Boas’ side managed to keep their lead, meaning they are now second in Ligue 1.  Tactical analysis […]

Le Classique (PSG versus Marseille) may be more known, but le Derby Rhône-Alpes – played between Olympique Lyonnais and Saint-Étienne – is perhaps France’s fiercest rivalry. On Sunday night, the two adversaries met at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, with ASSE escaping as 1-0 winners – thanks to a 90th minute header from striker Robert Beric.  Match report […]

In a game where Lyon did not seem able to do anything but park the bus to neutralize the Parisian forces, they managed to keep this match a goalless draw for a very long time. They had been counting their chickens before they were hatched though, as Neymar rescued PSG with a brilliant late game […]

If the ball was a cake, we would expect Lyon to have the biggest slice, but Montpellier were hungry too.

Sylvinho’s Lyon won their first game in Ligue 1. After Monaco were brought down to ten men, there was nothing left in the tank to stop Lyon from controlling the entire game. By no means an offensive orgy, yet Lyon showed efficiency to win the game three goals to nil.  Tactical analysis and match report […]

The talent in Lyon’s squad is well known, and it helped them to a 0-3 win over Marseille. They were aided by a relatively low tactical level from Marseille though, as Lyon were able to exploit their man-marking midfield to get the first goal. Lyon were then also helped by a Marseille red card, which […]

Lyon enjoyed over sixty percent of possession, yet Lille succeeded in making this a game of few chances. Goals from rare mistakes and circumstantial deflections led to a high scoring draw. Tactical analysis and match report by Siddarth Ramsundar. A fair criticism of Ligue 1 as a competition is that it misses a stable of […]