The Lyonnais, who are having the worst start to the season in their history, suffered their sixth defeat of the season on their lawn on Sunday evening.
In total perdition. Penultimate in Ligue 1 at kick-off, Olympique Lyonnais once again fell in the championship against Clermont (2-1), despite being bottom at the start of the day and without any victory, Sunday October 22. Now dead last, OL continues to dig in, and cannot see the end of the crisis.
On their lawn at Groupama Stadium, the Lyonnais had another complicated evening, and one that got off to a very poor start. Trailing from the 10th minute after Muhammed Cham’s opening score, granted despite a call for the video for a possible hand from the decisive passer Shamar Nicholson, they cracked again shortly after the half hour of play and saw the Clermontois lose escape.
Worst start to the season in club history
The good reaction, driven by the effective entry of a Corentin Tolisso decisive in reducing the gap, nevertheless did not make it possible to turn the tide, despite statistical domination (63% possession, 25 shots). Facing the only team behind them in the standings, and despite having the advantage of a stadium acquired by them, the Lyonnais suffered their sixth setback of the season. “There’s not much to say. These are the kind of matches we have to win. We showed too much quality compared to the result. We’re not where we should be.”regretted President John Textor on the set of Prime Video.
Success always eludes Fabio Grosso’s men, for whom “the championship is off to a bad start, and continues badly”. Their only nest egg was built on three draws. Before the break, they had finally managed to lead, but saw Lorient come back (3-3). One step forward, two steps back with Sunday’s result for OL, which is now the worst attack in Ligue 1 (only 7 goals, tied with Clermont) and the second worst defense (18 goals conceded).
It’s simple, the Rhone club has had the worst start to the season in its league history. After nine days, Lyon’s worst total until then was seven points, during the 1979-1980 and 1991-1992 seasons. It had been almost 60 years since OL had gone through a series of nine games without a win in the same season (11 between December 1965 and April 1966). “We are in a very complicated situation. We haven’t experienced this for years. In the workforce, I don’t know if anyone has already experienced this”recognized goalkeeper Anthony Lopes at the microphone of Prime Video after the meeting.
Already the specter of relegation?
In this situation, Olympique Lyonnais necessarily looks down. Especially since theThe history of teams scoring a maximum of three points at this stage of the season has it all. sow panic. The last six clubs to have scored a maximum of three points at this stage of the season have all been relegated (Dijon, Metz, Gazélec Ajaccio, Arles-Avignon, Grenoble, Le Mans). More broadly, in the history of the championship, only three teams in the same accounting situation as OL have escaped at the end of the season.
Statistically, hope diminishes from defeat to defeat. But Fabio Grosso’s men still have a model to follow, that of FC Nantes in 2001-2002, which is an exception. The Canaries also had three points after nine days, but they recovered and finished on the back foot, in tenth position, ten lengths from the red zone. “Now we will try to look ahead. We have only done very bad things. We have to move forward together, because no one will do it for us”, promises Anthony Lopes. The Lyonnais are not yet condemned. They still have 25 days left to raise their heads.