The Olympique Lyonnais coach had a message to convey at a press conference this Friday.
Propelled onto the bench of Olympique Lyonnais 5 months ago to redress the situation, Pierre Sage has largely succeeded in his mission. The technician allowed the Rhone club, then bottom of Ligue 1, to make an incredible comeback in the first half of the table. Now ninth, OL will also have the joy of playing in a Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The two clubs faced each other last Sunday for a clash which sounded like a dress rehearsal before this final. And the Gones lost largely at the Parc des Princes (1-4). A result which generated inappropriate criticism according to Pierre Sage.
“We were in Ligue 2…”
Present at a press conference two days before the match against Monaco, the OL coach wanted to provide an update. “I think we have become gentrified, he said. We are a bit victims of the good run we had. The demands and expectations are enormous, the stated objectives are different. This is also assumed on our side. What happened, to go from last place on the 14th day to being kept four days from the end, is not neutral. We will emerge from this situation grown. »
Pierre Sage reminds us: OL can no longer be relegated mathematically. A real feat given the critical situation in December. “ What happened this Wednesday was an official confirmation of our retention in Ligue 1, he added. We can almost associate it with a rise in Ligue 2, because we were in Ligue 2. I find that it went unnoticed and it is in this sense that I find that we have become more gentrified in our ambitions. Certainly, we are Olympique Lyonnais, certainly, we are in a position to experience it. But you have to remember what you experienced and what you had to accomplish at that time. When we arrive at the break and see the calendar, it also had a strange taste. The work done by the players, the self-sacrifice, the fact that they are able to turn around matches, has been very important in this journey. It gives the value of what happened. » It is said.
