Two weeks before facing PSG in the League Cup final, and after a first missed and lost 2-0 match against the Glasgow Rangers on Thursday for the first day of the Lyon Tournament, Olympique lyonnais won 2-1, Saturday July 18, against Celtic.

By displaying a conquering and coherent attitude, OL have gained confidence before playing two final friendly matches, in Belgium, in Ghent against La Gantoise, and Antwerp against Antwerp, on July 22 and 24.

He will then stay with the Lyonnais for a week to try to win his qualification for the Final 8 of the Champions League against Juventus Turin, on August 7 in Turin after winning the 8th final (1-0), on February 26 home.

For his part, the Parisian ogre will have disputed the final of the Coupe de France against Saint-Etienne, on July 24.

Unlike the match against the Rangers, OL lined up against Celtic a team that can be described as "type".

Rudi Garcia abandoned 4-2-3-1 to successfully adopt a device in 3-5-2 with Marcelo, Jason Denayer and Fernando Marçal in central defense, Léo Dubois and Maxwel Cornet as lateral backs, Bruno Guimaraes, Thiago Mendes, Houssem Aouar in the middle.

Dembélé and Memphis goal scorers

In attack, Moussa Dembele and Memphis Depay were associated. They are the ones who allowed OL to lead 2-0 at halftime.

Dembélé took over from the header at the far post a center delivered from the left wing by Marcelo to open the scoring in the 4th minute while Depay cleverly deflected a pass from Dubois, shortly before half-time (40th ).

The Dutchman, who also found the crossbar (54th), had already scored four times at Evian on July 1 against the Swiss fans from Port-Valais (12-0).

However, apart from his goal, the former Manchester United player, seriously injured in a knee on December 15 against Rennes, seemed sometimes at a loss of pace despite his efforts. "He needs playing time but it's encouraging to see him already at this level," said Rudi Garcia.

While the two official matches that are looming against PSG and Juve, could determine his future at OL, where he has only one year of contract, it seems preferable for him, in the immediate future, that he plays in a point rather than in the heart of the game.

Overall, OL displayed good cohesion with a compact team block and consistency between each line. Garcia advocated stability by making only two changes at the end of the game, Marçal and Cornet leaving their place to Kenny Tete and Youssouf Koné.

At the end of the game, Lyon could however have avoided conceding a goal signed Mohamed El Younoussi, who took the best on Marcelo (87th). "It is a regret that we should have won more widely if we had converted our opportunities," said Garcia, who judges his team "on time for its preparation".

With AFP

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