Unable to be dethroned for years, Olympique Lyon has now reached the bottom of the Ligue 1 table. The club, which has been financially troubled in the past, is also threatened with sporting bankruptcy.
When Olympique Lyon announced the multi-million dollar investment of a US investment fund in December last year, many fans might have dreamt of a return to former success for the previously financially struggling club.
US investor John Textor acquired 77.5 per cent of the club’s shares on 19 December 2022 with Eagle Football Holdings Limited, which also has a hand in Brazilian first division club Botafogo and Crystal Palace in the Premier League, at a cost of well over 300 million. Textor, the main owner of the investment fund, described the investment as the “beginning of a new story” with the clear aim of becoming a serious competitor for PSG – an early Christmas present for all those who keep up with OL?
Lyon’s bitter reality: pure relegation battle
It’s more like a “Nightmare before Christmas”, one is inclined to say a good nine months later. The former French serial champions, who took the crown in 2002 and were only knocked off the throne in 2009, have come crashing down to earth. Before the takeover of the investors, the club still made excursions into Europe (Champions League semi-final in 2020 against the eventual winners Bayern Munich) or into the upper regions of the table (most recently in 2020/21, when they thought they had a legitimate chance of winning the championship right up to the end), but the reality in autumn 2023 is that they will be fighting relegation: Pure relegation battle.
After eight matchdays, OL are in second-last place in the table with three points. They are still waiting in vain for their first win of the season. On Sunday, they let a point slip away after leading 3:1 – and that, of all things, against table neighbours Lorient, whom they could have made up so much ground on. Lyon are now five points off the bottom of the table.
No improvement despite successful season finale
While what Olympique put on the pitch in season finale 2022/23 looked promising. They racked up seven wins in the final eleven matchdays, starting with a 1-0 eighth-round win at Paris St Germain. Although seventh-placed OL missed out on international action by five points, third place in the second-round table gave them hope for a carefree future in the new season.
Severe departures – No room for replacements
In Bradley Barcola (to PSG) and Castello Lukeba (to RB Leipzig), however, they lost two of their three most promising talents in the summer. Despite good transfer revenues, OL’s hands were tied when it came to buying their successors. Finally, the French financial authority DNCG investigated the club, which had previously been hard-pressed.
Free professionals who had been discarded elsewhere, crude deals with Eagle partner clubs and returnees with a good reputation were therefore supposed to keep OL alive. But former stars like Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette (27 goals in 2022/23), who returned in 2022, are not living up to their expected leadership role. The striker scored only his second and third goals of the season against Lorient, and the disappointing attack (six goals) depends too much on his form curve.
Early change of coach, no effect
After just four matchdays, those responsible pulled the ripcord in September. The former national coach and 1998 World Champion Laurent Blanc, who, mind you, provided a boost in the season’s final spurt, was sacked after four matchdays (and one point).
But even under his successor Fabio Grosso, also a World Cup winner (with Italy in 2006), OL is failing to turn things around.
First investor plans exit
And so it comes to pass that the “new story” is threatened with an abrupt end after only nine and a half months. At the beginning of October, the usually well-informed sports newspaper “L’Equipe” reported that the company Iconic – which had a 75 million stake in the takeover – wanted to pull out of the deal and demanded its investment back.
Should the relationship break down, this would not be a disaster for “Eagle Football”. After all, the other clubs in the investment fund are on course. Botafogo lead the Brazilian league by nine points, Crystal Palace have established themselves in the midfield of the Premier League and RWD Molenbeek serve in the Belgian league as a loophole in the eternal fight against Financial Fair Play, known everywhere for multi-club ownership.
Bounce in the basement duel?
For Lyon on the other hand, the break would be another disaster. Money would then be even more lacking, the problems with the authorities would continue – and now they are also facing a sporting disaster. The first step towards improvement is to be taken after the international break. On 22 October, Clermont Foot will come to the Groupama Stadium. The only team that, as bottom team, is also still waiting for its first win of the season.
