AJ Auxerre Vs Olympique Lyonnais – French Ligue 1 preview
Stade Abbe-Deschamps, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AJ-Auxerre-c38247 host seven-time Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais in Week 15 of the 2011/2012 Ligue 1 Championelle on November 27, 2011.
Ahead of the game, Auxerre are in 15th place in the Ligue 1 standings with 15 points from 14 games while a poor run of results has seen http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 to 6th place in the Ligue 1 standings with 23 points from 14 games.
Respite through domestic success
Lyon’s chances of qualifying for the knockout phases of the UEFA Champions League were dealt a major blow when they drew 0-0 to Ajax Amsterdam in midweek. Remi Garde’s men would now be looking to move on from their disappointment in Europe by beating Auxerre
away from home.
However, the task is certainly not an easy one for Les Gones. In the 2010/2011 campaign, Lyon were defeated 4-0 away to Auxerre which was the Rhone giants biggest defeat margin in the last six seasons.
Furthermore, a poor run of results in the Ligue 1 mean that Lyon’s chances of competing for the Championelle have suffered as well.
In the last four league games, Remi Garde’s has seen his side lose three times. After a bright start to his first season in charge as coach of Lyon, Remi Garde is certainly under intense pressure to register a win at Burgundy against an Auxerre side that
is not a mere pushover.
Despite the recent travesties, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is standing behind his young coach. While talking on OLTV, Aulas said, "After a catastrophic season last year, in terms of our quality of play and the spirit shown by the players, Rémi has done
an excellent http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684. Despite being off the boil in the last two months, what he has done is good. If we have to play Europa League football, well, that's a magnificent consolation prize. And if we want to win a European trophy, then maybe we've got a more realistic
chance in that competition."
Financial repercussions
Dropping down to second tier European football will certainly have financial repercussions for Lyon who lost 28 million Euros last season. However, Aulas is seemingly not too worried about it and says that player sales could change all that.
Poor run for the Burgundy club
Lyon aren’t the only club that have seen a poor run of form of late. Auxerre’s last win came in Week 13 at the expense of Toulouse at home and since then, Laurent Fournier’s side have not won a single game.
With just two points above the drop zone, Auxerre would desperately be looking for a good result against a side that is going through a transitional phase.
Auxerre led Valenciennes 1-0 last week but lost 2-1 eventually which shows that the club’s defence needs to improve a lot if they are to avoid a relegation fight by the end of the season.
Team news
Auxerre
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dennis-Oliech-c10927 missed last week’s 2-1 defeat against Valenciennes but the Kenyan is now set to return to action. Edouard Cisse is out with a thigh injury while Issam Jemaa is also unlikely to feature due to a knee injury.
Lyon
Maxime Gonalons is still unavailable for selection due to a calf injury. A calf injury means that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Mensah-c18877 is also unlikely to feature against the Burgundy side.
Predicted final score: Auxerre 1-1 Lyon
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