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Tonight's new battle of the Olympiques is one that will make history.

Being a Coupe de la Ligue final, its result will be carved in stone. The name of the winner will be added to the list of glorious predecessors, those who at least once have been the heroes of this recent but well publicized competition.

The second half of the season is about to begin, we have our eyes set on that first game against Lorient, but there are a couple of interesting things that have been said or done around the club lately.

Here's a quick roundup:

- Jean II Makoun is on his way to Aston Villa.

Just view the images of Laurent Battles at the 61st minute of yesterday's game, knocked out by a full blow free kick from Michel Bastos and you'll imagine how I felt after this derby. I needed to sleep (or at least try) over the game to sort out my thoughts. Today I gave up trying to make a synthesis and decided to share the four facets of this game that are still revolving in my post-game thoughts.

HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE THAT FACE?

Once again, the "Deliverer" comes up big! Our beloved president has silenced me, 99% of the readers of this blog and OL fans around the world by making good on his promises. After torturing us and taking us to the brink of despair, he's delivered once again.

Olympique Lyonnais vs. AJ Auxerre

Stade Municipal de Gerland, Week 31, Ligue 1

Just last season, one could see Auxerre trying to fight their way in the Champions League group stages, against Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Ajax. Heck, they even beat Ajax at home! But things have changed, things have changed.

...aka Let's Not Talk About Lyon's Shitty Performance Against Bordeaux.

The transfer rumor mill has fired up. Word on the street is that Kim Kallstrom secretly met with Rubin Kazan, who are offering to triple his salary. However, the €5m they offered for him had Jean-Michel Aulas say "LOLZ, eff that.

Just a quick recap of what's been going on this week (besides the games, of course).

Lyon's newest player, Hamdan Al Kamali, arrived a few days ago from the United Arab Emirates. He's the first ever player from the UAE to play in a top league. However, he'll be starting in the reserves.

25 or 7 ?
25% vs 7 times. That pretty much sums up the whole uncertainty around this game. Statistically, Lyon only have a 25% chance to qualify after the draw (1-1) conceded at home, three weeks ago. But this small percentage is opposed to the record of confrontations between the two teams, largely in favor of OL : 7 games against Real, 0 loss.

I have a question for you : what is best, a good game with a loss in the end, or a -very- average game ending with a win? That's the choice Lyon has just proposed us in the space of 4 days. Just after offering, during the derby, a level of play unseen this season and worthy of a Champions League game, Lyon did not shine in Tel Aviv, but secured the result.

I think it's time we talked about the coaching situation. I know many of you no longer have confidence in Puel, and it looks like the players don't either. Many questioned why Puel was kept on despite staying trophy-less for two seasons while a guy like Alain Perrin were forced to leave after winning more trophies than any other OL manager.

The charm worked again. For their Champions League debut, just as they felt their back was coming dangerously close to the wall, last year's semi-finalists -almost turned into a Ligue 1 relegation candidate this year- have found the path to success...at last, as it is their first win since the Brest game on August 21st.

Here is the second part of my sharing with you the most recent long interviews Aulas gave in the so far quiet Ligue 1 world (or so it seemed, as under the surface some signs of activity were perceptible in the build up for the first signings as from today, beginning of the transfer window).

As a good CEO aiming at making the best use of his scarce time, he seems to have leveraged his trip to Paris to make his presence felt in the sports media world, as between May 31st and June 1st he gave 3 major interviews back to back.

In the past two years, Olympique Lyonnais' iconic president Jean-Michel Aulas has been less of the media addict he used to be. But that doesn't mean he kept completely quiet, and on several occasions throughout the season he voiced his concerns and observations, sometimes quite frankly. But usually, in the transfer season, Lyon play the smooth operator, and little is being announced or even discussed publicly.

The men might have completely blown their chances against Bayern, but luckily, OL Féminines managed to overpower Swedish heavyweight Umeå in the semifinals of the women's Champions League. That propelled them to their first ever European final (actually, the first ever for the entire club in the modern era).

Everyone following Lyon knew this was a crucial game. By an interesting geographic coincidence, Lyon's European fate would simultaneously be at play in two neighbouring stadiums of northern France, and solidarity with les Lillois was an added motivation for Valenciennes who didn't really need it given their record against "big" teams (ask Bordeaux this year.

Unless you've been living under a shell this past week, you'll have heard the drama going on regarding the timing of Lyon's match with Grenoble. Here is a recap of the situation:

Two days after the game in Real Madrid, the LFP decided to grant Lyon's request that they be given an extra day of rest in order to prepare for the first leg of the quarterfinals.

The Senegalese Savior Arrives, Just in the Knick of Time.

Sorry for the late post guys, I was pretty busy, and also waiting to see if we signed Laurent Bonnart as well to do a double post, but no such luck. Anyway, last Tuesday, we all breathed a giant sigh of relief as our president failed to let us down once again, and on the eve of the closing of the mercato window, solved a problem that would have definitely been the ruin of our season, had it been left unremedied.