Olympique Lyonnais - Back To The Glory Days

[Zain75]

Olympique Lyonnais...
Once flying the flag for French football with 7 Ligue 1 wins in a row, they now struggle to compete with the financial prowess of PSG and AS Monaco. With the last Ligue 1 victory in 2008 and the last two trophies won in 2012 (Coupe de France & Trophée des Champions), Olympique Lyonnais now find themselves slipping down and under in terms of the best team in French Football.

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Season Objectives:
- Finish in the top 3, therefore achieving a place in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round
- Develop and integrate the teams young players into the first team
- Win the French Cup
- Reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League

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This is going to be a tough season to finish third as Lille & Marseille are predicted to finish above us. Also, we have a transfer budget of £0. We will need to rely on the players we already have or try to raise funds through transfers...

Key Players:
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Yoan Gourcuff:
He was once one of the best prospects of French football however, upon moving to Olympique Lyonnais his career has had somewhat of a downfall with injuries. Still rated very highly.

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Alexandre Lacazette:
Still young and yet to reach his full potential, I believe he will be essential to this team playing on the right wing. Good pace and finishing ability.

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Samuel Umtiti:
Still young but he will definitely be playing first team football (if we can manage to keep hold of him).

Potential Star
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Yassine Benzia:
The next Karim Benzema? Dribbling and First Touch attributes are already good and with him being the only first team striker available as things stand, he will definitely be getting first team football.

 

[Zain75]

Pre-Season
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Pre-season was used to give a few young players a run around in the first team and to raise fitness so therefore the results are not too troubling for me.

Stand out player:

Yassine Benzia. 5 matches, 3 goals and 2 assists with an average rating of 7.48. Let's hope he can continue this form into the season.

Champions League Third Qualifying Round
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First leg is the next game on the agenda and should be relatively easy.

Next post will be after the transfer window closes.

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[King1999]

Great story idea, really looking forward to reading it

 

[Zain75]

Transfer Window Round Up

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The board agreed to my request of increasing the transfer budget from £0 - £3 million enabling me to maneuver in the transfer window a little easier.

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Anthony Annan, signed on loan as a back up ball winning midfielder and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, he might be signed on a permanent deal depending on his performances.

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Aspotolos Vellios, signed on loan as a back up to Frederico Macheda and Yassine Benzia. Won't be expecting too much from this coming season but with one goal already to his name, he could provide competition for the other strikers if he plays well.

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Frederico Macheda, I've always been a fan of him but he just didn't fulfill his potential at Manchester United. £550k is a lot of money when you started off with practically nothing but with 2 sub appearances, 1 start and 3 goals in the league alone, he is looking like a good singing for the club.

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Carlos Kameni. Ever since the departure of Hugo Lloris to Tottenham, Lyon have been nothing short of lacklusture in the goalkeeping department. Carlos Kameni at the age of 29 should still be a quality signing as goalkeepers can generally play until their mid/late thirties.

Champions league Third Qualifying Round
Leg 1 4-0

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Yoann Gourcuff picking up the man of the match award with 2 assists and 1 goal to his name. Yassine Benzia and Alexandre Lacazette both getting on the scoresheet also with 1 and 2 goals respectively.

Leg 2 - 2-1

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Many changes in the line up for this game, only scoring 2 goals with 25 shots. New loan signings Apostolos Vellios and Anthony Annan getting on the scoresheet with Clement Grenier creating both goals.

Ligue 1 - Opening games

OGC Nice 4-1
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Clinical finishing proved to be key with a 4-1 win in the opening game of the season. Even better result when you take into account that a few players were injured/suspended for this game and a debut given to a young centre back. Alexandre Lacazette, Gael Danic, Yassine Benzia & Milan Bisevac all on the scoresheet with assists by Yoann Gourcuff (1), Clement Grenier (1) and Yassine Benzia (2).

FC Sochaux-Montbeliard 3-0

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Milan Bisevac, Jimmy Briand & Frederico Macheda all getting on the scoresheet with Steed Malbranque pulling the strings from midfield with one assist and Clement Grenier with the other assist. Jimmy Briand came on in the 39th​ minute for the injured Alexandre Lacazette (4-5 days) and Frederico Macheda coming on in the 64th​ minute for Yassine Benzia who didn’t have much luck in front of goal.

Champions League Best Placed Playoff - FC Red Bull Salzburg
Leg 1 2-0

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Dominated in possession and with shots, just need to convert more of them shots into goals. Frederico Macheda picking up a goal on his first start for the team and Apostolos Vellios coming on for Frederico Macheda in the 75th​ minute. Arnold Mvuemba and Jimmy Briand with one assist each.

Ligue 1 - Stade de Reims - 1-2

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Disappointing result especially when you consider we had slightly more possession and many more shots. Below par performances from Maxime Gonalons and Yassine Benzia, will need to rethink their place in the first team for the coming weeks. Steed Malbranque with our only goal which was assisted by Anthony Annan who came on in the 45th​ minute for Maxime Gonalons.

Champions League Best Placed Playoff - FC Red Bull Salzburg
Leg 2 - 3-1

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Came from behind to win 2-1, many positives to take from this game especially since we were down a man from the 27th​ minute onwards. Will need to work on Samuel Umtiti’s discipline. Milan Bisevac playing the role of the “Super-Sub” with two goals off the bench and Gael Danic picking up the other. Anthony Annan with 1 assist and Steed Malbranque with 2 assists and also 117 passes in this match for Malbranque alone.

Champions League Draw

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The draw could have been kinder towards us, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund will be a tough opposition and qualifying for the knockout rounds is starting to look bleak before we have even played a match however, every team has their good days and their bad days…
Still aiming for qualification into the knockout rounds.

Ligue 1 - Evian TG FC - 4-1

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A good way to overcome that loss in the league prior to this match. Frederico Macheda with two goals, Jimmy Briand one and Alexandre Lacazette coming off the bench to play on the left wing and to score a goal. Young right back Mehdi Zeffane with one assist, Yoann Gourcuff with two assists and Maxime Gonalons coming off the bench to also get an assist for himself.

Ligue 1, end of August league table

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Second place with 3 wins and 1 loss. Not too bad but hopefully we can learn to convert our chances. PSG and Monaco showing that money isn't everything when it comes to football.

Ligue 1, end of August player stats


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Frederico Macheda is the clubs top scorer int he league so far having only started one game. Hopefully he can continue this form over the next month and we'll see how Yassine Benzia does too. Yoann Gourcuff and Clement Grenier with 5 assists between them.

 

[SamInnes123]

Good Start. Great win over Salzberg who I always thought were tricky opposition in the Champions League Play Off. Difficult group but at home you will be hard to beat.
Haven't played any of the big boys in the league yet so looking forward to the next update.

 

[Zain75]

Good Start. Great win over Salzberg who I always thought were tricky opposition in the Champions League Play Off. Difficult group but at home you will be hard to beat.
Haven't played any of the big boys in the league yet so looking forward to the next update.

haha thanks, next update should be a little later tonight

 

[Zain75]

September Update

Ligue 1 - Stade Rennais - 3-1
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Champions League - Manchester United - 1-3
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Ligue 1 - FC Nantes - 3-2
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Ligue 1 - AC Ajaccio 0-1
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Ligue 1 - LOSC - 2-1
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Ligue 1 Table
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Even with a cheap loss we still sit at the top of the table. Manchester United result wasn't too surprising to be honest, especially since Samuel Umtiti was suspended for the game.

Ligue 1 - Player Stats
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Frederico Macheda with 6 goals whilst being rotated with Yassine Benzia. Yoann Gourcuff top of the assists leaderboard with 5.

 

[Zain75]

October Update

Champions League - Borussia Dortmund - 6-1

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Ligue 1 - Montpellier HSC - 4-1

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Ligue 1 - Girondins Bordeaux - 3-0

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Champions League - FK Austria Wien - 2-0

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Ligue 1 AS Monaco - 2-3

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A very good month for us with a big win over Borussia Dormund. Ended on a low by throwing away a 2 goal lead against AS Monaco who haven't been living up to expectations this season, should of been a win there.

Ligue 1 Table

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2nd in the table but only by goal difference, season is still looking promising.

Champions League Table

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Top of the group at the midway stage.

 

[Zain75]

November Update

Ligue 1 - En Avant de Guingamp - 2-0

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Champions League - FK Austria Wien - 4-2

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Ligue 1 - AS Saint-Etienne - 2-4

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Ligue 1 - Valenciennes FC - 2-0

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Champions League - Manchester United - 1-4

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Ligue 1 - Paris Saint-Germain - 1-1

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Ligue 1 Table & Stats


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Very disappointing results against Saint-Ettienne and Manchester United. Also, I'm somewhat concerned with with my team conceding too many goals from set-pieces which is something that will need to be worked on. Top of the table by 1 point and with a pretty good goal difference of +18. Frederico Macheda at the top of the goal scoring chart with 10 goals but claiming the top spot by player fewer matches. Yoann Gourcuff slowly starting to have a dip in form which will need to be looked at.

Champions League Group Table​

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Level on points with Dortmund who

I will be playing this coming month to settle who goes through to the knockout rounds and who goes through to the Europa League.​

 

[Zain75]

December Update

Ligue 1 - Tolouse FC - 2-1
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Ligue 1 - SC Bastia - 1-4
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Champions League - Borussia Dortmund - 0-4
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Ligue 1 - OM - 1-1
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Coupe de la Ligue - Evian TG FC 5-1
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Ligue 1 - FC Lorient - 2-1
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Ligue 1 Table & Player Stats
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Champions League - Group Table
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A really disappointing month for us, surprise loss to SC Bastia and then getting finishing 3rd in the group stages of the Champions League. Also, not one clean sheet for us this month which isn't good. Gonna try and make it all the way into the final of the Europa League now. On the plus side however, we are 4 points clear at the top of the table and Macheda still tops the goal scoring charts in the league with 11 goals so far.