While Olympique Lyonnais, dead last in Ligue 1, is in a catastrophic situation and must now fight to stay, its owner only sees it as “a joke”.
Olympique Lyonnais has sunk a little deeper into the crisis. Facing Clermont at home for what was already the match between the last two in the standings, OL lost 2-1 and are the new bottom of Ligue 1. And with only three points on the clock, the Rhone club is already five lengths behind the roadblock, FC Metz. The situation has become critical for Les Gones, still looking for a first victory this season after nine days of the championship.
However, John Textor prefers to laugh about it. Questioned on Prime Video at the end of the meeting, the owner of OL refused to mention a possible fight by OL to maintain its position. “League 2? (laughs). I know you have to ask. This team does not run the risk of relegation. Teams that could be relegated in any country or championship don’t play like we played tonight. You won’t see this quality in people who go down, thus hit the American businessman. We don’t look down, we look above. There is a risk of giving credence to your question by having a mediocre season. But anyone who wants to talk about relegation is just spreading fear, stories… it’s a bit of a joke, I don’t take it seriously. I understand your question but it’s nonsense. »
“No, we are not at risk of relegation. You should not fear him. The team is so good. Teams that go down don’t play like that. No one is worried in the locker room, nor in the staff,” he added, adding : “It’s frustrating. These are the kind of matches, when you see them in the calendar… we made the mistake of thinking we had the three points before we had them. We play against professionals, whether they are at the top or bottom of the rankings. Our team is way too good to have these types of results. This is not an excuse, it is reality. When we see the quality on the pitch this evening… many players have progressed, the coaches are challenging the older ones by giving opportunities to the younger ones. We saw good performances in our team. But coaches need everyone to play well, not just 60% of the team. We’ll see. »
“Max (Caqueret), Alex (Lacazette), Jack (O’Brien), Tolisso who returned, Jeffinho, Ernest when he returned… we saw great performances,” continued Textor. Alex said a few weeks ago that we pay dearly for our little mistakes. The clinical side of our opponents in finishing, their ability to exploit our mistakes… we can say that it’s football but they are our mistakes, he said again. We have to erase these mistakes, start the match earlier. We can’t play matches by only playing the second period, it makes it easier for the teams opposite to start running the clock. Behind, we don’t have enough time. »
