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OL had to sell star players to avoid relegation but they are thriving in Ligue 1 and the Europa League By Get French Football News When Lyon were spared from administrative relegation to Ligue 2 on appeal over the summer, the overriding feeling was one of relief. During John Textor’s time as owner, the atmosphere became toxic, with fans turning on the directors. More importantly, the American ran Lyon into the ground, with the club registering losses of more than €200m in his final season in charge. Michele Kang came in as president and a place in Ligue 1 was secured but, as thoughts turned to the future last summer, fans must have felt uncertain and even trepidatious. Lyon’s place in the top flight was guaranteed by providing assurances to the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, that the club would sell players and reduce their wage bill. The stripping of the club’s most prized assets had already begun earlier in the summer when Rayan Cherki left to join Manchester City. Georges Mikautadze and Lucas Perri would also depart, both bringing in considerable sums; Nemanja Matic, one of the highest-paid players on the wage bill, was released; and Alexandre Lacazette’s deal expired. Lyon’s finances were moving in the right direction but the exodus of players left glaring holes in the squad. Paulo Fonseca said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the club’s dealings in the summer window, but Mikautadze’s exit in particular left him without a prolific forward. Martín Satriano arrived from Lens but, with just eight goals in 55 games in Ligue 1, he was unlikely to be able to make up the shortfall. In light of that, Fonseca was pragmatic with his tactics. The Portuguese manager had made Lille a difficult side to break down, and he has replicated that approach at the Groupama Stadium. It took until 5 October and the club’s eighth game of the season for Lyon to concede their first goal of the season with all 11 men on the pitch (the only goals conceded before that were in a 3-1 defeat to Rennes, in which the young English midfielder Tyler Morton was sent off). Lyon have become more expansive and, as the new signings have bedded in, optimism has crept in. Pre-season fears have turned into hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Morton has been excellent since moving from Liverpool and Pavel Sulc (27 games, 12 goals, five assists) has proven to be one of the signings of the season in Ligue 1. There are success stories across the pitch, from Afonso Moreira (26 games, five goals, eight assists) to Adam Karabec and now Endrick, who scored the first hat-trick of his career in a 5-2 win over Metz last week. There is a certain symmetry to the stories of Endrick and Lyon. From being consigned to life in the second tier in June, Lyon are now the most in-form team in Europe, with 10 consecutive wins in all competitions and 12 wins in their last 13; no side in Europe’s top five leagues is on a better run. And, following Sunday’s 1-0 win over Lille, they are now fourth in Ligue 1, level on points with third-placed Marseille. They are also flying in Europe; they beat PAOK last week to finish top of the Europa League table. Two of the goals in their 4-2 win against PAOK came from academy products, Rémi Himbert and Khalis Merah, while Adil Hamdani became the youngest player in the club’s history to register an assist in European competition. Amid the stripping of off-field assets (OL Féminin, OL Reign and the LDLC Arena), there were fears that the same fate would befall the club’s academy. The past week has shown what a grave error that would have been. The club and its young players can now look to a much brighter future than the one they faced in June, when that relegation verdict first fell, or even in August, when it was feared that they would be battling to survive this season. Fonseca’s win percentage is the best in the club’s history (65%), better even than Gérard Houllier’s (63. 9%). The Portuguese manager is planning for the long term at Lyon, who are now planning to extend his deal beyond 2027. This Lyon side is far from reaching the heights of past glories, but the ingredients of previous triumphs are evident. The fears that such triumphs would belong solely to the club’s past have been washed away. Lyon 1-0 Lille Angers 1-0 Metz Nice 2-2 Brest Toulouse 0-0 Auxerre Strasbourg 1-2 PSG Paris FC 2-2 Marseille Lorient 2-1 Nantes Monaco 4-0 Rennes Lens 1-0 Le Havre A lot can change in a week at Marseille. The picture was rosy last week as Ethan Nwaneri scored on his debut in a 3-0 win against Lens. Key players such as Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were rested for that match to keep them fresh for the club’s Champions League decider against Club Brugge on Wednesday. That did them little good as a 3-0 defeat in Belgium, coupled with Anatoliy Trubin’s heroics against Real Madrid, dumped Roberto De Zerbi’s side out of the competition. The manager was then forced to deny reports he had tendered his resignation, saying he “has the energy to stay at Marseille for five or six years”. His team keep failing to break old habits. After beating Lens, who were the league leaders at the time, they threw away a 2-0 lead and could only draw with Paris FC, this weekend. Expect to see a squad overhaul at OM; plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The game between Marseille and Paris FC was broadcast by be IN Sports and was marked by unsavoury remarks made by commentator Daniel Bravo, targeting Gaëtane Thiney, the former France international who was recently named the sporting director of Paris FC’s women’s team. When the camera panned to her at the Stade Bouin, Bravo said she “wasn’t very attentive”. He added: “I get the impression that she was talking about lingerie. ” His co-commentator, Christophe Josse, was vocally critical of Bravo on air. Be IN Sports have since announced that Bravo has been suspended with immediate effect. Paris FC “strongly condemned” the commentator’s comments on Sunday. This is an article by Get French Football News