Décines-Charpieu (France) (AFP)

Lyon and Nice clashed Saturday at Groupama Stadium in Décines-Charpieu (Metropolis of Lyon) and revived French football in a friendly match won behind closed doors by OL (1-0), three and a half months after the end of Ligue 1.

The Lyon goal was scored at the start of the game by Houssem Aouar who transformed a penalty awarded for a foul by Nice goalkeeper Walter Benitez on Moussa Dembélé, from the 4th minute.

Three days after a first gallop of training against the Swiss amateurs of Port-Valais beaten 12-0 in Evian-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie) Wednesday, the Lyonnais found their enclosure of 60,000 places located in the heart of a site always evolving, with multiple constructions, now called OL Vallée.

But only 250 people were present, players and management of the two teams included, the ball pickers, a few accredited journalists and the technicians of Canal Plus who broadcast the meeting with instructions on social distancing and wearing the compulsory mask.

OL President Jean-Michel Aulas was absent and the "President Box" even remained closed.

The teams were not presented by the usual announcer even if they lined up timidly in front of the empty stands in the main gallery.

And after Aouar's goal, the musical comma (or jingle) was not launched at full speed as it is customary to energize the supporters.

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For Nice, it was a resumption match in which coach Patrick Vieira made many changes at halftime, including the entry into play of striker Amine Gouiri, transferred this week from Lyon at the Aiglons for 7 million euros. Overall, OL displayed better cohesion and superior technical mastery.

The state of mind of Rudi Garcia's men has already turned to the goal of beating Paris SG in the League Cup final on July 31 at Stade de France, in order to snatch a place in the Europa League which got away from them in the league (7th).

While he had used only twelve players Wednesday against Port-Valais, Garcia made a large turn in his squad, especially during the second half with notably the entry into play, in the 66th minute, of Memphis Depay who had scored four goals on Wednesday, then rookie Tino Kadewere just after.

The Dutchman, like Jeff Reine-Adelaide, injured his knee on this field on December 15 against Rennes, before being operated on a few days later.

With the many changes on both sides, the pace dropped in intensity after half-time, but overall, OL logically showed a bit of a physical lead over their opponent.

The Lyon workforce will now benefit from a week of vacation before resuming training.

OL will return to Groupama Stadium from 16-18 July for a tournament in which they will face the Scottish clubs of Celtic Glasgow and Glasgow Rangers.

These two teams, which will not play against each other, will also be opposed to Nice.

Lyon will then go to Belgium, there too a country whose championship had chosen not to resume after the cut, as in Scotland, to compete in La Gantoise on July 22 and then, probably, in Anderlecht on July 24.

© 2020 AFP