Lyon coach Pierre Sage refuted the idea, after the draw conceded by his team at home on Saturday against Reims (1-1), that OL were doomed to remain in the soft underbelly of the league standings. Ligue 1 and says he wants to “see ahead”. “The idea is to play all the matches to win them with the desire to produce games, to remain attractive and to progress as a team while hoping that the public continues to come to the stadium. Everything is still possible to see ahead,” replied Sage.
Olympique Lyonnais remains 10th in the standings, four points behind Reims (9th) but missed the opportunity to come back two lengths (while waiting for Sunday’s matches) from Rennes (8th) or Marseille (7th) in particular. 7th place can qualify for the Europa Conference League provided that the winner of the Coupe de France ranks among the first six. The championship title is promised to PSG who must face Rennes in the semi-final while OL host Valenciennes (L2). The winner of the cup qualifies for the Europa League.
In view of the semi-final on Tuesday, Pierre Sage was forced to manage his squad. “Beyond managing the two matches, we had to manage the international break and certain players had a lot of playing time with their selection. The offensive players who entered in the second half all played for the selection,” recalled the Lyon technician.
“We had to have two competitive teams in the two matches to have positive results. Tonight, against Reims, the performance was good but the result was not positive. We absolutely have to do the work on Tuesday to qualify,” he insisted.
“We have the situations to score and win but we have not been able to be effective. (…) We expected this type of match. We failed to score the second goal. But I congratulate the players for their performance. It’s the first draw since I’ve been coach,” concluded Sage.
