29 Nov 2008
Stade Gerland
1p.m. ET(1900 CET, 1800 GMT)

Lyon haven't even had time to savor their Wednesday win over Fiorentina that will see them through to the knock-out stages of the CL for the sixth time in six years. Lyon have had a hectic schedule as of late, with twelve matches in six weeks, not including international duty for some players like Benzema, Toulalan, and Grosso who all picked-up slight knocks.

Potential Lyon Target, Palermo/Dutch International CB Simon Kjaer

I don't think that anyone out there- except for maybe Ronald obviously- loves transfer rumors more than I do. And with the winter transfer window approaching, lots of rumors have begun to swirl around. Thankfully, there are none- except for possibly the 15-year-old AZ Alkmaar midfielder Adam Maher- on the offensive side of the ball, because if there were, I think I'd pull my hair out.

Despite the continuing string of injuries- that would have crippled a mere mortal team- Lyon are through to the knock-out stages of the CL. Doing much better than just picking-up the minimum one point needed before Tuesday's match in order to advance past the group stages, Lyon walked in and out of Stadio Artemio Franchi like they owned the place and took 3 points- and probably some Bistecca alla Fiorentina- with them.

To recap the situation in Lyon's Champions League group, Lyon and Bayern are level with eight points, with Lyon on top due to more goals scored. Fiorentina lie in third with three points, but at the moment, they have a better head to head record against Lyon. Steaua are fourth with only a single point and can only contend for a spot in the UEFA Cup.

Lyon's full-back crisis gets worse. WORSE! Is that even possible? From the OL website:

This afternoon's MRI confirmed a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament on Anthony Reveillere's left knee. Consequently, his season for Lyon is over.

Reveillere can now hang out in Lyon's very own hospital ward with Mathieu Bodmer, Cesar Delgado, Francois Clerc, Fabio Santos, and Miralem Pjanic.

Sorry for the short preview, but it's been a crazy week for me. To keep things short, Lyon are traveling to Paris tomorrow, and three days later, they will be traveling to Fiorentina for a crucial Champions League match. Unfortunately, Lyon's injury list continues to grow, so it will be difficult for Puel to continue implementing his rotation policy to keep his players fresh.

Watching yesterday's game against Bordeaux, I was struck by two things. First, Juninho is in danger of growing a mullet. And second, money doesn't buy everything. Because even though Lyon walked away with the three points, anyone watching the game would admit that Bordeaux dominated the match both in terms of tactics and in possession, and had they possessed a better honed killer instinct, things would have turned out a lot differently.

Alternatively: Benzema vs. Gourcuff. Puel vs. Blanc. First vs. Second. The Lyon Offside vs. The Bordeaux Offside. Inara vs. Jennifer. Etc.

All you need to know is that tomorrow features two of France's heavyweights in a game that could directly influence the title, both in terms of points and in terms of psychology.

Oh Jean-mimi. How you love to find new ways to make people hate you (outside of Lyon, that is).

This morning, in a rather long interview in which Jean-Michel Aulas touched upon various subjects such as Laurent Blanc, the title race, and Hatem Ben Arfa, he also spoke about his regrets at being unable to sign Yoann Gourcuff two years ago from Rennes.

With the heavy fixture load coming up in the next month, I thought that before things get too serious around here, I'd share the pictures from the OL 2009 calendar. As I mentioned earlier, Lyon got creative this year and had the players dress up in a way that reflected some aspect of the player's personality, either hobbies, persona, background, or running gags.

Readers of this blog will know how much I detest Arsene Wenger and his policy of stealing the youth players of other clubs. I know other clubs do it too (Chelsea is another notable example), but Arsenal do it every other day. In fact, I protested this post that praised Arsenal's youth system chiefly because Arsenal's youth system is really just Arsene systematically purchasing well known young prospects from other clubs.

If any of you read my match preview of yesterday's Coupe de la Ligue game against Metz, you can see that I was expecting a comfortable win for my team. Not champagne football, but a solid, no-nonsense victory. But it turns out that I, along with the entire squad of Olympique Lyonnais, am now being punished for such arrogance.

This is how we know the season has really started - when the domestic cup competitions starting clogging the calendar. From now until May (Lyon are going to win a quadruple this year, duh), there will be games every three days. Factor in internationals, and things look awfully brutal. Good thing Lyon have such a big squad, right?

Claude Puel has more on his mind than just the three points up for grabs in Monaco this weekend. He's got a squad that's still exhausted from their efforts against Steaua, he has a run of gauntlet games coming up this entire month, and he's hyper aware of the fact that he needs to avoid injuries to players as much as possible.

Recently my favorite Lyon player gave an interview to Le Progress. Jeremy Toulalan is a defensive stalwart and anchor in the Lyon midfield. Since coming in from Nantes, he has suprisingly more than filled-in the very large shoes of the departed Mahamadou Diarra.