Lyon receive Juventus from Turin this evening in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League. Italians are widely favored. For Virginie Phulpin, the problem with Olympique Lyonnais is that President Jean-Michel Aulas takes up much more space than his team itself.
Which president today embodies his club as much as Jean-Michel Aulas? Nobody, or almost. He's the omnipotent president. He was always involved in everything, even when Lyon stacked the titles. He had taken a step back at the start of the season, thinking of delegating to Juninho, his sports director. But given the lack of results and the soporific and ineffective game of OL, he returned to the front line. Based on punchlines like the latest "Lyon, c'est un petit Ajax Amsterdam". Ajax, the semi-finalist of last year in this league of champions, his game which makes the admiration of all Europe, we speak well of the same? It is true that the more you watch Lyon play the less you see the parentage. But make no mistake, Jean-Michel Aulas did not lose his head all at once, it is cleverly calculated as an exit. Everyone comments on the president's little sentence, he is ready to take all the shots, it is the shield of his club. And during this time, we are less interested in the game project of Rudi Garcia with his team. That's good, because there isn't one.
Jean-Michel Aulas still believes in a possible feat of Lyon this Wednesday evening.
In any case, he pretends very well. And above all, to avoid talking directly about this confrontation, or even the disappointing season of OL, he puts it in a historical context. This eighth finals can be a turning point in the history of the club. He continues on his hobby, Lyon's flourishing finances and the promises of the future. Yes, this team is young and promising, it's true. It's clever on the part of the president, and it's much more catchy than Rudi Garcia who is content to say that it is not always the best who win football. On a misunderstanding, it can pass, what, if we translate. But beware, because anyone who attacks the work of the coach and his philosophy of play will find Jean-Michel Aulas in his path. And the president will use all his strength of conviction, and all the bad faith he is capable of also to prove to us that OL is part of the best of European football. And if we are a little skeptical, he will always get away with a pirouette. Do you know who could replace me when I leave the club? Tony Parker. And we almost forget OL's current poverty to imagine a bright future. Yes, he is strong, this president. More than his team. It's up to the players to put themselves on the same level tonight.