Olympique Lyonnais - Revival Of The French Giants

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Olympique Lyonnais
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About The Club
Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) are a French professional football club playing in Ligue 1. Throughout the 00's they were the dominant side in France, but over recent years, they have declined sharply, suffered from some financial issues and are no longer anything like the team they used to be.

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About Me Antoine Philippe (The Manager)
I just changed my name a bit to sound like I am a Frenchman :). I set my age at 37, a decent age for a young up and coming manager.

Expectations
For this season the board expect me to qualify for continental football, which I feel is a reasonable target. Unfortunately I have been given a transfer budget of £0.00. Yeah, the club is broke, so it's unlikely I'll be signing anyone this season.

Squad
The squad really isn't that great. Last year the club sold off a lot of players including 'Dejan Lovren', 'Michel Bastos' & 'Lisandro Lopez'. A positive is that the squad is fairly young, and a lot of players will improve with the right training.

Key Players

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3 players who will be key for me are club captain 'Maxime Gonalons', attacking midfielder 'Clement Grenier' & winger/forward 'Alexandre Lacazette'.

Star Youth Players

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The youth squad is actually brilliant. I can see a lot of players turning good in the future. The best youth player is 18 year old striker 'Yassine Benzia'. He will get game time straight away, and according to some could be the next 'Karim Benzema'.

What To Expect In The Next Update
Pre-Season, an overview of tactics etc.
 
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Pre-Season
Not a busy pre-season.
We went through a training camp in the Franche-Comte, France. (Not exactly sure where that is lol)
No signings made as we have no money.

Pre-Season Fixtures

Grazer AC 0-3 Olympique Lyonnais

AEL Kallonis 0-3 Olympique Lyonnais

Club Brugge 1-3 Olympique Lyonnais

Levadeiakos 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais

We played 4 pre-season fixtures and won them comfortably. The fixtures were not exactly challenging so I had expected these results.

Tactics

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I will be using the same two tactics I used in my long-term save with 'Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur' as I had a fair amount of success with them. I expect they would work well as our strongest area of the squad is probably central midfield.

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I will also use this tactic if I have a striker shortage, which could end up happening as we are a bit short in that department. I also used this tactic when I was short on strikers on my 'Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur' save.

Transfer Centre

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Barely anything here. Just one player, a young keeper going out on loan for first team experience.

What To Expect In The Next Update
The season kicks off.
We will have a few Champions League qualifying matches before our first league fixtures.
 
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August
A good start for us.
It was a fairly busy month with 7 games.

Zlute Waregem 0-4 Olympique Lyonnais (Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round / First Leg)
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A 'Yohann Gourcuff' brace helped us record an easy 4-0 win against our opponents from Belgium. A nice way to start the season.

Olympique Lyonnais 5-0 Zlute Waregem (Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round / Second Leg)
We win 9-0 on aggregate.
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We followed up our first leg win with another impressive performance. A brace from 18 year old striker 'Yassine Benzia' helped us record a 5-0 win. We win 9-0 on aggregate.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 OGC Nice (Ligue 1)
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We kick of the Ligue 1 campaign with a 2-0 win over 'OGC Nice'. We were missing a few key players who were carrying over 1 game suspensions for something that must have happened last season.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 PAOK Salonika (Champions League Playoff Round / First Leg)
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A strong performance see us take control of the tie against our Greek opponents with a good 3-0 win. Striker 'Bafetimbi Gomis' scored 2 of our goals.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 Stade De Remis (Ligue 1)
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A good performance. Our opponents limited the amount of possession we had, but when we had possession we done damage. A brace from forward 'Alexandre Lacazette' helps us record a 3-0 win.

PAOK Salonika 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Champions League Playoff Round / Second Leg)
We win 4-1 on aggregate.
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We only managed a draw in what was a fairly even game in Greece. However after winning our first leg 3-0 we didn't have much to worry about. We reach the Champions League group stages as expected with a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Evian TG FC 1-4 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A very good performance as we thrash 'Evian' at their place. A brace from 'Alexandre Lacazette' helped us record a really good 4-1 win.

Ligue 1 Table

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We are 3rd behind PSG & Lille, but we have played a game less than most other teams. If we win our game in hand we will go top. It's early days though so the table doesn't mean too much just yet.
Player Of The Month

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Attacking midfielder 'Yoann Gourcuff' was our best player this month, scoring 4 goals in the 5 games he played.

Champions League Group Draw

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A pretty tough group. Real Madrid should comfortably take top spot. We should take 2nd. Swiss side Basel & Romanian side Steua are both potentially tricky sides but we should finish above the both of them.

What To Expect In The Next Update
September will be a shorter month with 5 fixtures.
We face Real Madrid in our first group game hoping to pull off an upset.
 
Lacazette, Benzia and Umtiti. Make sure you hold onto them. Absolute beasts.
 
Imparator said:
Lacazette, Benzia and Umtiti. Make sure you hold onto them. Absolute beasts.
Click to expand...

I'll definitely be keeping hold of them. I've never thought Umtiti to be that great, but I'll be keeping him. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong.
 
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September
A very average month.
We struggled a bit in front of goal.

September Fixtures

Olympique Lyonnais 0-1 Stade Rennais FC (Ligue 1)
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Our first loss of the season is at the hands of Stade Rennais. 'Jonathan Pitroipa' scored a wonder goal against us, and despite having a few good chances we were unable to equalize.

Real Madrid 2-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Champions League Group Stage)
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I didn't expect anything from this game. Real Madrid were in control and deserved their win.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 FC Nantes (Ligue 1)
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Back to winning ways with a good 2-0 win over Nantes.

AC Ajaccio 1-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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We only managed to come away with a draw against Ajaccio. They started off brightly and took the lead, but when we equalized I though we would go on to record a comfortable win. We had the chances, but lacked the finishing.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 LOSC Lille (Ligue 1)
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A good win against a tough opponent who are probably better than us player for player. 'Yoann Gourcuff' & 'Henri Bedimo' with our goals.

Ligue 1 Table

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We are 3rd after 7 league games. We have played 1 game less than most of the other teams, and would go top on goal-difference if we win our game in hand.

Player Of The Month

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Left-back 'Henri Bedimo' has had a good month. The defender has played well defensively, and scored 2 goals this month.

What To Expect In The Next Update
October will be a tough month.
We have games against Montpellier, Bordeaux & Monaco.
 
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October
Another month of mixed fortunes.

October Fixtures

Olympique Lyonnais 0-1 Steua Bucharest (Champions League Group Stage)
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I'm still trying to work out how we managed to lose this game, after having 3 goals disallowed for offside. Very annoying.

Montpellier HSC 0-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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We dominated the game but really struggled to put away our chances. We got the only goal of the game via a penalty. Still it's 3 points against a good side.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-2 Girondins Bordeaux (Ligue 1)
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A 2-2 draw is not a bad result. It did look like we were heading to an undeserved loss until we got a stoppage time equalizer via forward 'Jimmy Briand'.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 FC Basel (Champions League Group Stage)
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A good performance here comfortably beating Swiss giants Basel 3-0.

AS Monaco 3-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A poor performance & disappointing loss. We didn't turn up today and got beaten easily.

Ligue 1 Table

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We are in 4th place but still have a game in hand. If we win our game in hand, we will go 2nd. Monaco are all the way down in 16th which is a big surprise. It makes it all the more disappointing that we were battered by them.

Player Of The Month

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No one really had a good month, but central defender 'Milan Bisevac' was one of our better performers.

What To Expect In The Next Month
Can we put an end to our inconsistent form and go on a winning run?
 
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November
We are still as inconsistent as ever.
Good news as the board gave me £4.2mil to spend. I have a few targets I hope to sign in January.

November Fixtures

Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 En Avant De Guinguap (Ligue 1)
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It was a slow start for us, and we went behind very early on. We improved, turned things around and recorded the victory which I had expected.

FC Basel 2-1 Olympqiue Lyonnais (Champions League Group Stage)
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We have been dismal so far in the Champions League and fell to a very disappointing loss in Switzerland.

AS Saint-Etienne 0-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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This was a very important game, as it was the Rhone derby, and we've managed to win and give our fans the bragging rights. It was a very even game, but we got the only goal of the match just before half-time via a penalty from 'Yassine benzia'.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 Valenciennes FC (Ligue 1)
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A poor performance as we struggle to a draw at home to a mid-table side. Our goal came via the penalty spot. It's a bit concerning that we are really struggling to find the net on a regular basis.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 Real Madrid (Champions League Group Stage)
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A good performance here as we manage to get a draw against Real Madrid. We took the lead just after the break via 'Bafetimbi Gomis'. Real equalized via 'Xavi Olonso'. The game was fairly even and a draw was the fair result.

Ligue 1 Table

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We are in 5th place, but only 2 points off 2nd place still have our game in hand. Marsielle are doing very well and are 9 points clear at the top of the league at the moment.

Player Of The Month

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No one really had a good month, but young striker 'Yassine Benzia' did manage to score 3 goals this month.

What To Expect In The Next Update
A couple of very tough fixtures next month.
We have games against PSG & Marsielle.
 
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December
One does not simply perform well consistently.
We had some great results & some awful results this month.

December Fixtures

Paris Saint-Germain 2-3 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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Brilliant result! Even more impressive is the fact we came back from 2-0 down. Things didn't look good 10 minutes into the 2nd half when 'Edison Cavani' put PSG 2-0 up, but 'Alexandre Lacazette' & Bafetimbi Gomis' scored goals shortly after to bring us level, and a late own goal gave us a great 3-2 win.

Olympique Lyonnais 0-0 Toulouse FC (Ligue 1)
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Well that was dull. A bore draw here. We had more chances than Toulouse, but we failed to put any of them away.

SC Bastia 2-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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Pathetic! Relegation threatened Bastia came from behind to record a shock win against us.

Steua Bucharest 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Champions League Group Stage)
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We really messed things up here. We played very poorly & the Romanian champions deserved their win. We completely ****** up our Champions League campaign this year.

Olympique Lyonnais 6-1 Olympique De Marseille (Ligue 1)
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What a performance. Your eyes are not deceiving you here. We smashed table topping Marseille 6-1. 19 year old striker 'Yassine Benzia' had an amazing game scoring a hat-trick, which included an amazing long ranged volley.

Toulouse FC 1-2 Olympique Lyonnais (Coupe De La Ligue 4th Round)
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We progress in the 'Coupe De La Ligue' after a hard-fought victory against Toulouse.

FC Lorient 0-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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We really should have got the win here after dominating & creating numerous chances, but our finishing was fairly poor like it has been on quite a few occasions so far this season.

Ligue 1 Table

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At the half-way point in the season we find ourselves in 4th place, 7 points behind top of the table Olympique De Marsielle.

Our Champions League Group Table

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We made a complete mess of things in the group and finished rock bottom. Real Madrid topped the group as I had expected, but I really though we could finish 2nd or at worst 3rd considering 'FC Basel' & 'Steua' are not that good. To not even have Europa League football after Christmas has really annoyed me.

Player Of The Month

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Right-Back 'Miguel Lopes' was our best player this month & he won the 'Ligue 1' player of the month award. He's only here on loan for the season from 'Sporting Lisbon', but if I can sign him permanently for a decent fee I will. There's a clause in his contract which enables me to sign him permanently for £8.5mil, but there's no way I'd pay that much. If I can get him for about £1.5-£2mil then I will.

What To Expect In The Next Update
With the January window opening will we see any incoming players?
Will we see any outgoing players?
January looks like being a busy month with quite a few fixtures.
 
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January
We bring in 2 new players.
A few youngsters go out on loan.
Another month of very inconsistent performances.
We lose key player 'Clement Grenier' to a long-term injury :(.

New Signings

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Ezequiel Rescaldani (£275K From Velez) We bring in a new striker as I felt we needed the extra goal threat. Ezequiel Rescaldani looks like he could add something to the team, and to get him in for so cheap represents a real bargain.

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Vincent Sasso (500K From Braga) - Vincent Sasso come's in as a back-up player. I wanted another defensive option and Vincent can play either as a central defender of right-back.

Transfer Centre

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A few youngsters go out on loan.

January Fixtures

Hyeres FC 1-5 Olympique Lyonnais (French Cup 9th Round)
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An easy win for us against a much weaker side. Striker 'Bafetimbi Gomis' managed to get himself a hat-trick.

FC Sochaux-Montbe 1-3 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A good performance & a good win. However our victory was marred by an injury to 'Clement Grenier'. The midfielder broke his toe, and will be missing for about 2 months :(.

Olympique Lyonnais 0-3 FC Sochaux-Montbe (Ligue 1)
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Awful performance & awful result. However I have to take full responsibility for this. Having beaten this side 3 days ago at their ground, I decided to go overly attacking hoping to rip our opponents a new one & it completely backfired.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 Montpellier HSC (Coupe De La Ligue Quarter Finals)
Montpellier win 8-7 on penalties.
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Disappointment as we go out of the 'Coupe De La Ligue'. It was a fairly even game with few clear chances for either side. When it went to penalties I knew I would lose. I pretty much always lose on penalties.

Stade De Remis 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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Another disappointing performance. We conceded 2 late goals and fall to a disappointing defeat to a struggling 'Stade De Remis' side.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 Cleamont Foot (French Cup 10th Round)
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A comfortable win over Ligue 2 side 'Clermont Foot'. 2 early goals, including a first goal for new striker 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' gave us a 2-0 win.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-2 Evian TG FC (Ligue 1)
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2 points dropped after taking a comfortable lead. Early goals from 'Miguel Lopes' & 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' gave us a 2-0 lead and we looked like recording a good win, but we failed to keep up our performance levels and ended up with a frustrating 2-2 draw.

Ligue 1 Table

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We end the month in 5th place, 8 points behind leaders 'Olympique De Marsielle'.

Player Of The Month

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Central defender 'Samuel Umtiti' had a very good month in defence. Prior to this month he had been performing really poorly, so I'm hoping he's turned things around and can continue playing like he has this month.

What To Expect In The Next Update
How will our new signings settle into the squad?
 
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February
A very good month.
We put on some very solid performances.
We lose another key player to long-term injury :mad:.

February Fixtures

Stade Rennais FC 1-3 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A very good performance. 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes early on set us up for a good win. The game however was marred by injury to 'Alexandre Lacazette' who will miss 3 months with a torn hamstring :(.

FC Nantes 0-3 Olympiqye Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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Another strong away performance as we comfortably beat FC Nantes.

US Concarneau 0-3 Olympique Lyonnais (French Cup 11th Round)
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We comfortably beat our minnow opponents to advance to the quarter finals of the French Cup.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 AJ Ajaccio (Ligue 1)
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A fairly dull game which was somewhat lacking in quality. We did get the win in the end & it was a deserved one.

LOSC Lille 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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An even game against a very strong Lille side. It looked like we were going to come away with a good point until we conceded via a late wonder goal.

Ligue 1 Table

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Lille are now topping the table after Marsielle had a poor month and dropped to 2nd. We are 3rd with 2 points separating us and 5th placed PSG.

Player Of The Month

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Right-back 'Miguel Lopes' was our best player this month. Miguel, who is on a season-long loan with us has played consistently well throughout the season and really looks like someone I need to sign permanently at the end of the season.

What To Expect In The Next Update
Our youth intake is in March.
French clubs usually have good youth intakes, so will we have some potential future stars?
 
are you the same person who did the fulham story? I cognise the little feature of whats to come.love it!!
 
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Youth Intake

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What An Intake!!! This is by far the best youth intake I have ever had!! We have at least 7 players who can potentially become future stars for us, and with the right training a couple of them can become world class.

Best 3 Youths

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David Thomas - Remember this name. David Thomas was the best player of the youth intake, and I'm very confident he will be a world class player. It wont be long before he gets his debut.

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Florian Rey - Right-back Florian Rey looks like he will be a great defender in the future and I look forward to seeing him develop.

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Jean-Francois Charles - The young defender looks very promising, and I'm sure he will become a key player for us in the future

What To Expect In The Next Update
The month of March. Will we continue our good form?
We do have some tough fixtures including 2 games against AS Monaco.
 
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March
A fairly poor month :(.
Monaco (Who I always struggle against) give us a lot of problems.

March Fixtures

Olympique Lyonnais 0-1 Montpellier HSC (Ligue 1)
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Disappointment. We suffer a poor home loss against Montpellier. We performed really badly, not even creating a chance that looked like troubling the opposition.

Girondins Bordeaux 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A very good performance away from home. Goals from 'Bafetimbi Gomis' & 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' gave us a good 2-0 win.

Olympique Lyonnais 1-2 AS Monaco (Ligue 1)
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We lose to AS Monaco, who I seem to always struggle against. We looked good in the first half and were 1-0 up at half time, but we didn't do well in the 2nd half and ended up losing the game 2-1.

En Avant De Guinguap 2-4 Olympqiue Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A good performance. We started the game on fire, and were 3-0 up within the the first 10 minutes. Our opponents didn't let us run riot on them though, and the score ended up 4-2. 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' scored 2 of our goals, and is looking like a quality signing.

AS Monaco 2-1 Olympique Lyonnais (French Cup Quarter Finals)
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Monaco kick us our of the French Cup :(. It was a fairly even game, but Monaco were just better in front of goal.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-2 AS Saint-Etienne (Ligue 1)
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A disappointing draw at home to local rivals 'Saint-Etienne'. We twice took the lead, but couldn't hold on for the 3 points. We didn't deserve to win the game though, and a draw was a fair result.

Ligue 1 Table

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We are in 3rd place & 6 points off the top with just 7 games to go. We have the same points as 4th placed PSG but have a slightly better goal difference. 'Toulouse FC' in 5th place are a furthur 8 point's behind & I can't see them catching up, so the worst we can really finish would be 4th place.

Player Of The Month

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January signing 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' was our best player this month, scoring 4 goals.

What To Expect In The Next Update
Will 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' keep up his good form?
We have a tough match against PSG. Can we win and complete the double over them?
 
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April
A good month.
We record a fantastic win over PSG.

April Fixtures

Valenciennes FC 2-2 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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After going 2-0 up via a brace from 'Bafetimbi Gomis' I expected to come away with all 3 points, but our opponents fought back in the 2nd half and managed to come away with a draw.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1)
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A brilliant performance & result. We were amazing & didn't even allow PSG to record a shot on target. Central defender 'Bakary Kone' scored 2 goals, & 'Yoann Gourcuff' scored the 3rd to put the icing on the cake.

Toulouse 0-1 Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)
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A hard fought victory against a tough Toulouse side. It looked like being a draw until 'Ezequiel Rescaldani' popped up with a goal near the end of the match.

Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 SC Bastia (Ligue 1)
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A comfortable home 2-0 win which I had expected over a relegation threatened 'SC Bastia'.

Ligue 1 Table

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Weare in 3rd place, 5 points behind table toppers 'Olympique De Marsielle' who will most likely go on to win the league. We are also 5 points in front of 4th placed PSG, so we should get a top 3 finish, unless we mess up in the final few games.

Player Of The Month

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The star on a season loan to us, 'Miguel Lopes' was our player of the month for the 3rd time this season, and won the 'Ligue 1' player of the month award for the 2nd time this season. While I don't really want to spend £8.5mil to bring him here permanently, it looks like I may have to as I really want to keep him. I can't see 'Sporting Lisbon' allowing him to leave on the cheap.

What To Expect In The Next Update
The final 3 games of the season.
What position will we finish the league in?
We need a top 3 position to qualify for the Champions League.
 
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