Paris (AFP)

The international truce has shaken the landscape of Ligue 1: Rudi Garcia in Lyon and Antoine Kombouaré in Toulouse make their debut at the head of their new team on Saturday for the 10th day, a promising start to confirm for Claude Puel with Saint-Laurent. Etienne, Sunday.

Ending a black series of seven games without a win in the league, here is the short-term mission of Garcia, enthroned at the controls of Lyon, 14th in Ligue 1, Monday in place of Sylvinho.

The former coach of OM will have another: extinguish the resentment of fans Rhone, irritated to see an ex-Marseillais often critical of OL to land in the Rhone and disappointed for some that the choice did not focus on Laurent Blanc, another candidate for the position.

"We all have one motivation: to see OL win again," defended Garcia on Tuesday. A win on Saturday (5:30 pm) against Dijon, penultimate, would not extinguish all concerns but probably allow the coach to give himself some confidence before Wednesday's visit to the field of Benfica Lisbon, in the Champions League.

Garcia's first under the colors of Lyon will also be a special occasion: that of his reunion with his former assistant OM, Stéphane Jobard, the current coach of Dijon. "It's a nice wink (but) we remain competitors and we will want to pose problems one and the other," slipped the technician of the DFCO.

The pressure of winning will certainly be less on the shoulders of Antoine Kombouaré, because Toulouse does not have the same ambitions as Lyon. But the TFC, 17th with nine points like OL, has not won either since August under the orders of Alain Casanova.

- A weekend of coaches -

The home of Lille (5th) Saturday night (20h00) is not the ideal opposition to rebound. For the technician native of Noumea, she must be at least an opportunity to react in the attitude.

"We must regain the taste for buffers, to be respected," he said, alarmed to see Toulouse have already conceded 15 goals. "The most important thing is to defend well because there are qualities to make a difference".

The maxim could be reversed in Saint-Etienne land. Only two L1 teams have indeed scored fewer goals than Saint-Etienne (8) since the beginning of the year.

But the arrival of Claude Puel on the bench of ASSE, and his inaugural victory of prestige in the derby against Lyon (1-0), his former club, gave hope to the spectators of the stadium Geoffroy-Guichard. The coach is now looking to export to Bordeaux Sunday (15:00), to root out the Greens a disappointing 13th place in the standings.

Other coaches at risk will be under pressure during the weekend, warned by what happened to their counterparts Sylvinho, Gasset and Casanova. This will be the case Sunday between Monaco and Rennes (17h00). Leonardo Jardim wants to regain the taste of victory, glimpsed at the end of September against Nice then Brest but forgotten a week later in Montpellier. In front, Julien Stéphan has not experienced such pleasure since August 25 in all competitions.

And the day before, it will be for Vincent Hognon, boss of the red lantern Metz, not to sink. Lack of luck, it is a fitness coach who faces him in Saint-Symphorien (20:00): Christian Gourcuff, whose FC Nantes clings to his rank of dolphin Paris SG.

Coaches in suspension, coaches in full success, coaches in the test ... No doubt, this weekend of football will - also - take place on the edge of the grounds.

© 2019 AFP