Lyon Beats the other Lions to Become Champions of Champions (Yeah, I Know)

By: Sam | July 28th, 2007

Call me German, but I don’t think that ball was over. Sure, you could see some green between the ball and the line, but that doesn’t mean the ball was completely over. You have no idea how much they stress this at referee courses. Anyway.

Le trophée des champions! Every year, the winner of the league (take a wild guess) and the Coupe de France winner (Sochaux) are pitted against each other in a more or les friendly match. This year’s edition was played in ~~China~~ France, bizzarely.

The first ten minutes belonged to Lyon, with chance after chance falling onto their boots, but wouldn’t you know it, finishing was out of the question. Pity, because the champs let their defenses down for a split second, and that was enough for Valter Birsa, the Slovenian international, to beat the offside trap, get on the receiving end of a sublime cross from Sène, and chipped Coupet sweetly to put the Lionceaux up on thirteen minutes.

It didn’t take too long for the home side to wake up and smell the silverware though, as it only took Sidney Govou (who was later elected MOTM) to equalize, on an even prettier goal. Darting down the left wing to help out Benzema, the latter boy had the presence of mind to feed Sid with a cute little outside foot, who proceded to waltz into the area and beat Richert to the far side. And just before the break, on a Lyon corner, Benzema got a header to the ball but was magnificently turned away by Richert’s lightning-quick palm. The same can’t be said for his defenders, as Cris was left wiiiiiiide open and did all he had to do, which was tap it in to give Lyon the 2-1 advantage, which didn’t waver for the rest of the match.

Less opportunities on net came to be in the second half, and more yellow cards animated the match. Nevertheless, it’s a sixth TdC in a row for les Gones.

Said a confident and happy Alain Perrin after the match (translated from French): Tonight, the serious stuff was starting. It’s been taken care of. Now, we have to continue. The win was important for the credibility, and for the change in the formation. (…) After only four weeks of training, what the players are doing is very interesting.

More on the victory is sure to come on Inara’s Lyon Offside.