Lyon fly flag for France as PSG and Monaco disappoint in Europe

PARIS: If only one French club were going to emerge victorious in the Champions League this week, probably very few thought that team would be Lyon, for all that they possess in their ranks is a World Cup winner in Nabil Fekir.

France’s Champions League trio all had extremely difficult assignments, with Lyon recording a stunning 2-1 win on Wednesday away to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

That contrasted with Paris St Germain’s 3-2 defeat in Liverpool a day earlier, while Monaco’s limits were exposed as they went down 2-1 at home to Atletico Madrid.

Lyon’s win was their best result in Europe since they reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, and came with the pressure growing on coach Bruno Genesio.

Their start to the Ligue 1 season has been poor, and they are already eight points behind leaders PSG after five games. But against City, with 10 players aged 24 or under featuring in Genesio’s side, Lyon demonstrated what they are capable of.

Their goals came from Maxwel Cornet and captain Fekir, who shows no sign of being troubled by the knee issue that saw Liverpool pull out of a move for him in the summer.

“Nabil showed that our captain is back, well and truly back. He was decisive and was also exemplary when we didn’t have the ball. I am very proud of my players,” said Genesio.

He has been in charge for two and a half years but is not popular with all supporters – disgruntled fans have draped the Groupama stadium with banners targeting Genesio, who has also been accosted by fans while walking in the streets of the city.

However, he and his team are now galvanised ahead of another huge match, when they host bitter rivals Marseille in the league.

“We need to be able to put together a run of these performances, and we will need a repeat on Sunday against a team who are of Champions League standard,” Genesio added.

Meanwhile, the inquest into PSG’s defeat against Liverpool has focused largely on their problems in midfield.

The defeat in itself was no disgrace, and the result may not ultimately matter, but the manner of the performance from Thomas Tuchel’s side was a cause for concern.

After five straight wins in Ligue 1, they were unable to deal with the step up against last season’s Champions League finalists.

Their star attacking trio of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani did not perform, while they were overrun in midfield.

Tuchel has publicly expressed frustration at the club’s failure to sign a new holding midfielder after Thiago Motta’s retirement. And while Marco Verratti was suspended at Anfield, Brazil defender Marquinhos played the holding role.

“We were maybe a bit too prudent at the end of the game, but there was also quite a lot of tiredness,” said Thomas Meunier. — AFP