Liverpool's hearts were broken by a cruel last-minute equaliser that has all but ended their Champions League dreams for a traumatic season.
The much-maligned Ryan Babel had scored a wonderful goal with just seven minutes left and if Liverpool could have hung on to that lead they would still have had a realistic chance of reaching the last 16. Click to continue reading...

OCTOBER 24, 2009
Stade Municipal Du Ray, Nice
1 PM ET (19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT)
After Tuesday's unbelievable victory at Anfield, we can only hope that the players have come back down to earth- because I'm still on cloud nine- and are ready to dispatch there next league obstacle and maintain their miniscule +1 goal differential lead over second place Montpellier?

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With World Cup qualifiers about to take place, there isn't too much happening at club level. But there are a few articles and updates that caught my eye.

The biggest news is the medical update on Bafetimbi Gomis. Two days ago at Guingamp, Gomis collapsed during practice with the France squad.

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I didn't have the energy to do an actual preview for this game, so I figured I should at least put up a game day thread.

August 29, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM ET (21:00 CET)

Nothing to report except that Nancy have bigger injury concerns than we do.

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Just when you thought the door of the Lyon's transfer season had been locked until December- at least if you believe Puel- with the arrival Bafetimbi Gomis, OL still have some unfinished business to attend to, though it's all "out-bound" traffic, in their minds that is. Really, Puel needs to have his head examined: his minimalist approach to recruiting is really irking the crap-out-of-me.

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Lyon Can Finally Fly Straight Again: OL's New Winger Swoops into Town, Hopefully to Take Us to New Heights.
No, it's not a Ferrari nor Beluga caviar, it's a Brazilian winger. Like and injured bird, OL's left wing- along with a slew of other issues- hindered it's abilitiy to fly as strong as it was capable of, but now it's finally healed, stronger than ever, and ready for lift-off.

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Key players from last season, Juninho and Benzema, have left Lyon and that created a big gap to fill, but it seems that Les Gones will manage to build a decent team after all. The statement on Lyon official website reads that the club have agreed a deal with Porto to sign striker Lisandro Lopez for €24 million, and the transfer will be finalized once the player agree personal terms with the club.

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Hotting up.

IN:

Lisandro Lopez: JMA himself was supposed to be in Portugal today to personaly finalize the deal for Lisandro, but management dropped a bomb today on Porto! In L'Equipe, Bernard Lacombe announced that management had called-off the trip to Portugal today, as well as divulging that negotiations for Toulouse striker Andre Pierre Gignac were underway(see more below).

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Three Possible New-Comers to Gerland This Season.

I'm planning to do one of these at the end of every week to sum-up the concrete, as well as all the crap rumors out there concerning Lyon. So here we go:

Possible Ins:

Lisandro Lopez: Negotiations for the Argentine International are still on-going, much to most of our relief, after the Aly Cissokho debacle.

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This may be "Kongo Kim's" last match for OL and Sidney's too; wink.
Week 35
Sat May 30, 2009
Stade Alle Gabriel Benes
3:00 PM(21:00CET, 20:00GMT)

Well, we've taken care of business and OL are now back in the CL,albiet in qualifying rounds, but hey, it's better than the alternatives.

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When was the last time you saw this?
Sun, 14 April, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Last week saw OL get-off to a good start in the final stretch of the season with a strong showing vs. Le Mans. Lyon did alot of good things: scored three- I wanted to see maybe two more to narrow Marseilles' point differential lead, Benzema broke-out of his miny-slump with a brace and Jean the Monster Makoun had two assits.

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Ederson is quickly learning from Pato eh? They probably had a phone convo the previous night about the heart celebration ("Make sure your thumbs are adjacent to one another, pal" Pato warned, seriously) Well, the celebratory gesture was actually directed at Ederson's wife who was watching the game in the stands on Valentine's Day. Click to continue reading...

First things first, the last few weeks have been very hectic in my "real life" because I've fallen behind in my research, and as a doctoral student, my adviser is not happy with me, which is why I've had to take a vacation from the soccer blogosphere. So you can imagine my disappointment that despite missing two games and nearly two weeks into the January transfer window, nothing remotely interesting has happened at Lyon.

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Despite the continuing string of injuries- that would have crippled a mere mortal team- Lyon are through to the knock-out stages of the CL. Doing much better than just picking-up the minimum one point needed before Tuesday's match in order to advance past the group stages, Lyon walked in and out of Stadio Artemio Franchi like they owned the place and took 3 points- and probably some Bistecca alla Fiorentina- with them.

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Just who isn't injured? Of the ten players out, seven of them are starting players. Defensively, Lyon are once again in a crisis. They are down to their last men in terms of defense. Besides academy kids, Lyon have no backups at all. If anything happens to the players that are left, Lyon will be screwed.

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I know I normally do a post match write up after CL matches, but I'm running short of time and won't be able to do the usual photo and video fest. Plus most of what needed to be said has already been posted in the comments of this thread. So here are some additional thoughts:

1. Lyon are taking the concept of "the best defense is a good offense" a little too far.

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Allez Lyon!!!

Lyon:

Lloris
Reveillere - Cris - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Juninho - Toulalan - Makoun
Govou - Fred - Benzema

Bench: Vercoutre, Boumsong, Kallstrom, Ederson, Piquionne, Mounier

Bayern:

Rensing
Oddo - Breno - Lucio - Lahm
Schweinsteiger - Demichelis - Ze Roberto - Ribery
Klose - Toni

Bench: Butt, Van Buyten, Podolski, Ottl, Van Bommel, Sosa, Borowski

Feel free to post commentary, frustrations, and thoughts here during and after the game.

Click to continue reading...

According to L'Equipe, this is Lyon's best league start to a season since 2001/2002. Unbeaten in all their games, with five wins and a draw, they are already four points ahead of second placed Marseille. And despite having a defense that would make even the bravest of people whimper with fear, Lyon conceded only two goals so far, giving them the best defense in the league.

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Ahhh, hopefully we can have a slight respite from the recent Franco-Italian war that has errupted in our comments section of the post-Lyon-Fiorentina CL match, and during the lull in hostilities, get back to enjoying some L1 action!

Saturday, Lyon travel to Le Stade Jules Deschaseaux in the the northwestern region of Haute-Normandie to take on one of this year's promoted clubs, Le Havre AC.

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In lieu of a proper match review, I present you with this. Match highlights and photos at the end of the post.

1. When picking Brazilians, it's Ederson you want. Leave Fred behind with the rest of the garbage.

I don't mean to come off as a Fred hater, but did he accomplish ANYTHING in today's match - besides the countless times he squandered easy shots on goal?

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Dear Lyon,

Don't screw this up.

Hugs and kisses,

Me

Lyon:

Lloris
Reveillere - Boumsong - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Makoun - Toulalan - Juninho
Govou - Fred - Benzema

Bench: Vercoutre, Gassama, Cris, Mensah, Pjanic, Ederson, Piquionne, Mounier

Fiorentina:

Frey
Zauri - Kroldrup - Dainelli - Vargas
Kuzmanovic - Melo - Montolivo - Almiron
Gilardino - Mutu

Bench: Storari, Donadel, Jovetic, Gobbi, Jorgensen, Santana, Pazzini

Feel free to post commentary, frustrations, and thoughts here during and after the game.

Click to continue reading...

Sorry that this match preview is so late, but I've been on vacation for the last two weeks, and John, who has kindly been covering in my absence, is traveling as well. So this is going to be a little shorter than normal.

This is the fifth game of the season, and Lyon and Marseille are still tied for first place, with Marseille ahead due to more goals scored.

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A new coach, several new players, new tactical systems...so I figured it was time for another team building exercise.

I can't resist this picture. It's Lyon to a T.

Between friendlies and the first few competitive games, we've gotten a vague idea about the kind of team Puel wants to form - tactically organized, defensively solid, players sticking to their roles (as opposed to last season, where players would be out of position all the time).

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Benzema celebrates after scoring Lyon's only goal in last year's 2-1 loss to Lorient.

This week, Lyon travel to Brittany to face FC Lorient at Le Stade Moustoir. Lorient is currently tied for 2nd place with seven other teams in L1, having defeated Le Mans 1-0 in the first week.

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