Ligue 1: Lyon begins to believe in the title after its victory against Strasbourg

Very quickly. While waiting for the Lille match this Sunday (in Nantes), OL took the reins of the championship. After 24 days. Anything but anecdotal. The Rhone have lost only one of their last 21 games. Saturday evening, for their 4th success in a row, Anthony Lopes’ teammates walked against Strasbourg (3-0), it is true quickly reduced to 10 following the expulsion of Thomasson after only 15 minutes of play. walked anyway, in the wake of their fire attack, their trio Toko Ekambi – Memphis – Kadewere which strikes at any time for several weeks.

It was a far from obvious association at the start of the season. If Rudi Garcia groped often last season, he has found his system and his team now. And it works. Toko Ekambi has scored his 11th goal of the season already and Memphis Depay, author of a brace, overtook a certain Karim Benzema by scoring his 66 and 67th goals with Lyon (Benzema stopped at 66). OL’s sporting director, Juninho, as a specialist, must have appreciated the Dutchman’s sublime free kick for the 3-0. “Benzema is an inspiration to me. It’s an honor to overtake him, ”rejoiced the whimsical striker from Rhone.

“We wanted to put pressure on the teams playing on Sunday”

With its bloated workforce, and no European Cup to play, Lyon has very strong arguments in the race for the title. “We wanted to put pressure on the teams playing on Sunday,” admits Garcia, while remaining cautious. The “podium” goal is on everyone’s lips but no one has yet dared to pronounce the word title.

However, for France’s 2nd budget, which has been chasing a French coronation since… 2008, it really seems the year or never. The Parisian ogre is less dominant this season and like Lille, he has strong ambitions in the European Cup in the coming weeks. They could leave precious feathers in battle. OL, deprived of the European Cup for the first time in 23 years, does not have this “concern”. And the winter transfer window is over. He did not get depopulated. Neither Memphis nor Aouar left. Barça no longer turns the head of the Dutchman. And with this “great player”, dixit Garcia, Lyon can dream.

“I was able to manage, not to take risks, continues Garcia. We need to have no (physical) glitches. It will also be a matter of absences among the 4 in front (Lille, Lyon, Paris, Monaco) and maybe another ”. In this frenzied fight, OL will also have the advantage of hosting PSG on March 21 and Lille on April 25. In a city where this color is sometimes hated, all the lights are currently green in the Rhône.