at the end of a stunning scenario, Olympique Lyonnais wins against Brest and virtually passes into Europe

Trailing 3-1 until the 70th minute, the Lyonnais won against Stade Brestois on Sunday at home to move up to 7th place in the championship.

France Télévisions – Sports Editorial

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Ainslay Maitland-Niles, Corentin Tolisso and Said Benrahma during Lyon-Brest during the 29th day of Ligue 1 at Groupama Stadium, April 14, 2024. (OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP)

A completely crazy poster. Olympique Lyonnais achieved a stunning success against Stade Brestois (4-3), Sunday April 14 during the 29th day. The runner-up of Paris Saint-Germain thought he could hold on to his victory when he led 3-1 twenty minutes from time thanks to a great Romain Del Castillo, author of an assist for Steve Mounié (60th) and two goals ( 64th, 68th).

But Alexandre Lacazette (70th), Nicolas Tagliafico (78th) and a penalty from Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the 106th minute of play allowed Les Gones to win in a red-hot Groupama Stadium. A result as crazy as last season’s 5-4 against Montpellier, which allows the Lyonnais to move up to seventh place in Ligue 1 since Reims (1-3 in Strasbourg) and Rennes (1-2 against Toulouse) inclined this weekend, while waiting for the late match between Marseille and Nice.

In other words, Olympique Lyonnais are virtually qualified for the European Cup with five days remaining. This position in the standings will offer a ticket for the Europa Conference League at the end of the season if PSG wins the final of the Coupe de France against… Lyon, who would take the folding seat in the Europa League awarded to the winner in the case opposite.

From red lantern to possible European under Pierre Sage

A situation that looked like a daydream for Rhone supporters, while OL were still bottom with 7 points after 14 matches at the start of December, and were already relegated to Ligue 2. Celebrations with the stands at Décines -Charpieu, with Rayan Cherki as host, testified to the irrationality of this renaissance, initiated since the appointment of Pierre Sage at the end of last year.

“This is the first time that we have overturned a match with two goals behind, noted the coach at the microphone of Prime Video. OL won 16 points after being behind since his arrival. It’s extraordinary, I hope it will give us energy for the following matches, that it will show us that nothing is impossible and that we are capable of anything, even when the challenge is almost lost. This team has resources, the group is strong.”

When explaining the form of the Lyonnais, the impact of the winter transfer window appears to be decisive. The squad has been considerably strengthened with the arrivals of Nemanja Matic, a veritable metronome in the field, and six other recruits who have come to provide healthy competition to certain executives who were no longer decisive. Even if his goal was the result of a forgotten penalty on the Brest side for a hand fault by Jake O’Brien, it was Corentin Tolisso who opened the scoring on Sunday (18th), while Anthony Lopes regained his standards in goal since the arrival of Brazilian Lucas Perri, cup holder.

“We have this little thing in this group… Before, the objective was to acquire maintenance as quickly as possible, now it’s something else, who would have thought it! We hope to maintain it, this seventh place, until the end And why not bring OL back into European competition We have to hang on because we have incredible matches ahead of us. reacted the Portuguese goalkeeper after a match during which he made four high-class saves. The road to Europe is still long with high-level clashes against Paris next Sunday, Monaco and Lille. But Lyon is well on its way.


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