What was expected to be a Ligue 1 shock on Sunday evening turned sour. Scheduled for the end of the 10th day, the OM-OL duel ultimately never took place. The attack on the Lyon bus by Marseille supporters injured Gones coach Fabio Grosso, as well as his assistant Raffaele Longo. The meeting was postponed. Yet another scandal for French football, at which the international press was unanimously outraged.
In France to begin with, where accidents of this type have happened several times in recent years. The front page of L’Equipe decided to depict the face of Fabio Grosso, bleeding after the shards of glass he received. Entitled “Disgust and shame”, the front page of the French daily emphasizes the “new turmoil” that French football is going through. The tone does not change on the side of the Lyon daily newspapers Le Progrès and Marseille daily newspaper La Provence, which also headline “The shame” and “What a shame”. A feeling expressed by the entire French press, like Dauphiné Libéré which announced the postponement of the match following “serious incidents”.
2006 world champion with the Nazionale, Fabio Grosso was able to count on the transalpine press to come, very logically, to his aid. The images of the Lyon coach, bleeding, shocked our European neighbors. And first of all the Gazzetta dello Sport, which headlines: “The Lyon bus ambushed: Grosso injured and bleeding”. From our colleagues at Corriere dello Sport, we can read this morning: “Grosso, the shock in France”. The two main Italian sports newspapers insist on the seriousness of the events, and on the “aggression” suffered by the former coach of Frosinone in Serie B.
In the number 1 German newspaper Bild, the image of a bloodied Fabio Grosso is still displayed in large format, captioned with a sad and sober: “Lyon coach bloodied after an attack”. The overseas daily reports a “chaotic attack”, carried out with the throwing of “stones and beer cans”. In Spain, Marca is marked by the headline of Grosso revealed by the Team, “shocking”.
As, for his part, highlights a video showing the attack on fan buses by Marseille supporters and speaks of “one more episode among many others which have tainted French football in recent times”. The Montpellier-Clermont match is also mentioned, a game during which the Clermont goalkeeper was targeted by a firecracker. Moreover, the Spanish daily also raises the question of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, wondering “if the country is capable of hosting an event of such magnitude”.
Like everywhere in Europe, the English press highlights Grosso’s swollen face. The Sun is no exception and headlines: “Italian legend Grosso in blood after stone thrown at windows”. A focus is placed on Marseille supporters, who had already “pursued Ajax fans” in the Europa League this season. A BBC journalist spoke to him about “a terrible image of French football”, estimating that it is “neither the first nor the last time that such an event has occurred”.