STORY
Lyon is definitely a club apart. Olympique Lyonnais, who snatched a miracle draw against RB Leipzig on Tuesday night (2-2), advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League. But the party was marred by clashes between players Lyon and their own supporters (yes yes!), Moments after the meeting. These breathtaking scenes, filmed by the cameras of RMC Sports, could have serious consequences for the OL.
Act 1: a banner "Marcelo dégage" deployed in the North Turn
The final whistle has just sounded for a few seconds when Rudi Garcia, the Lyon coach, gathered his troops in the middle of the field. In the process, the players first go to the South Turn to greet some of the fans. Then they move, timidly, towards the North Turn where is the Bad Gones, the main group of Lyon supporters, the most virulent too.
A man then goes down on the lawn to wave a flag with a donkey head on which is written "Marcelo dégage", named after the central defender Lyonnais. For several weeks, the Bad Gones and part of the public Lyon continue to boo the Brazilian and demand his departure. The situation will then abruptly fester.
Act 2: Depay runs to tear the flag, the situation degenerates
Captain Memphis Depay, furious, runs at full speed towards the Lyon supporter, and pulls his flag from his hands. "I ran to say, 'Relax, and put that awkward flag on everybody', they spit on us, I've never seen anything like that," will tell a little more late the Dutch.
The Lyon players rush to come to the aid of their teammate, while several supporters of the North Turn penetrate the lawn. Security is obliged to intervene to separate the two camps, in a deleterious climate. Marcelo, mad with rage, is filmed in the process of addressing several fingers of honor to the supporters of Virage Nord. Several players, including goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and midfielder Houssem Aouar, both trained at the club, engage in discussion with the fans, before returning to the locker room.
Beginning of a fight between some Lyon players and Bad Gones members. Memphis Depay tries to tear off the banner that targets Marcelo @ lequipepic.twitter.com / Y2c2oOHlXk
- Bilel Ghazi (@BilelGhazi) December 10, 2019Act 3: the consternation of the players and the anger of Jean-Michel Aulas
A few moments after these clashes, the players and the Lyon staff stop in a mixed zone. Memphis Depay, very moved, has an extremely strong speech at the microphone of RMC Sport. "I'm furious, angry, I do not know what to say, we did not do our best game, but we qualified, it's extremely difficult to play for a team knowing that one of them between us is in conflict with the supporters.What do you expect from us? Thank them even if they insult our families, our children? I do not have the words for that, "he says. RMC Sports.
"It makes no sense to play in a full stadium, if we can not celebrate with the whole stadium after the match, we want to do one with our fans, but they do not want to do one with us. the meeting is the president, the coach, the leaders, it is up to them to take responsibility for the solutions.If you leave the field with this feeling, it is that there is something that does not It's hard to stay calm, "he said.
"I'm furious, I have to be careful because it reminds me of my past and I do not want to be that man anymore, I've become calmer, I do not have words for that."
On the verge of tears, Memphis Depay responded to incidents after #OLRBL at RMC Sport's microphone pic.twitter.com/IGCaMqxmeR
Jean-Michel Aulas is also dismayed. "A club, it's the leaders, the players, the supporters and there can not be any distortion.I am the one who decides and not the supporters," says the president of Lyon, before promising that "to support ( who held the flag) would be sanctioned. UEFA could also take sanctions against the club lyonnais, under the cover of a suris for several incidents occurred in his stadium. The next few days will be hectic in Lyon.