News
Fonseca points the way forward for Lyon
Big ambitions
"The top 3? That's the goal." Paulo Fonseca was adamant at his introductory press conference that his aim for Olympique Lyonnais was a return to the UEFA Champions League, a competition in which Les Gones haven't participated since 2019/20. After having stewarded LOSC Lille -- over the course of two seasons -- to a third place finish in Ligue 1 McDonald's and a UEFA Europa Conference League quarterfinal, he departed last summer to AC Milan. There, he led the team in a strong campaign in the Champions League, but the uneven form of several star players and a poor position in Serie A saw his dismissal.
Less than a month later, though, Lyon came calling, and Fonseca was back in the French game with both feet. He had a difficult task in replacing Pierre Sage, a popular figure and a manager who propelled the club to a record-breaking second half of the season, but the results have been impressive indeed. While his first match, a narrow loss to Olympique de Marseille, was a frustrating one, in the two matches since, Lyon have scored an incredible eight goals as Fonseca has moved to decisively remake his side.
2nd consecutive win for our Boss đŠâ€ïž pic.twitter.com/nJ5HXVq9NQ
â Olympique Lyonnais đŹđ§đșđž (@OL_English) February 17, 2025
A strong start
Naysayers of Fonseca's abilities and indeed his potential to improve the team's fortunes may point to the quality of the team's opponents in those two matches -- Stade de Reims and Montpellier HSC, but as the adage goes, you can only beat what's in front of you. And beyond that, Fonseca also seems to be involving his entire squad, something that Sage had failed to do, particularly in the form of marquee summer signing Georges Mikautadze. After only coming off the bench against Marseille, he has started and scored in each of the last two matches,
Speaking after the win over Montpellier, the striker underscored, the impact of Fonseca, saying, âWhen we went back to the dressing room, the coach told us to be more ambitious, and that's what we did. He told us to play with our hearts, that we have the talent and it paid off." That bravura instilled by Fonseca has been critical to Lyon's upturn in form and the club will hope it comes to bear in Sunday's big match against PSG as well.
Read more:
