What has gone wrong at Lyon?

Try The Athletic for FREE for 30 days: theathletic.com/tifofootball
📗 Tifo's new book, "How to Watch Football" is now available internationally: linktr.ee/tifobook
Lyon have won Ligue 1 seven times. They used to hold a monopoly over French football until PSG emerged in the 2010s. They are a giant of a club.
But 10 games into the 2023/24 season they are rock bottom of the league having not won a single match.
What on earth has happened to Olympique Lyonnais?
Seb Stafford-Bloor explains. Marco Bevilacqua illustrates.
Follow Tifo Football:
Twitter: / tifofootball_
Facebook: / tifofootball
Instagram: / tifofootball_
Listen to the Tifo Football podcast:
The Athletic UK: bit.ly/TifoPodChannel
Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/TifoFootPod
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/06QIGhq...
Watch more Tifo Football: Tactics Explained: • Tactics Explained | Ti...
Finances & Laws: • Finances & Laws | Tifo...
Tifo Football Podcast: • Tifo Football Podcast
Most Recent Videos: • Most Recent Videos | T...
1 Popular Videos: • Popular Videos | Tifo ...
About Tifo Football:
Tifo loves football. We create In-depth tactical, historical and geopolitical breakdowns of the beautiful game.
We know there’s an appetite for thoughtful, intelligent content. For stuff that makes the complicated simple.
We provide analysis on the Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, World Cup and more.
Our podcasts interview some of the game’s leading figures. And our editorial covers football with depth and insight.
Founded in 2017 and became a part of The Athletic in 2020. For business inquiries, reach out to [e-mail].
Music sourced from epidemicsound.com
Additional footage sourced from freestockfootagearchive.com
#ligue1 #OL #lyon

[@ArshavinCisse]

To think Ajax , Lyon , Basel all fighting for relegation is crazy

[@WombatRock420]

Schalke is fighting for regulation as well, but in Bundesliga 2

[@llbuitre]

Actually Ajax is in 3 games unbeaten run and they are in 12th place now.

[@yrnseventh]

Literally about to say this too. It's crazy

[@alexanderlinton6946]

@@WombatRock420 Wigan are fighting relegation in league one

[@kristiansutanto]

@@alexanderlinton6946 crazy but completely not at the same level of forementioned teams

[@haristaletovic2703]

Not long time ago Lyon was the main reason why I was following the Ligue 1, players like Juninho, Pjanic, Benzema.... the excellent perfomances in the UCL, unforgetable, watching today their situation makes me really sad specially when at the moment I don't see the solution for their new success and when again I will be in the position to see them again in the UCL.

[@StheSharknl]

We are getting old my man haha, those teams were great!

[@Max-ve5tu]

Not that long ago? Those players played for Lyon like 20 years ago.

[@12thMandalorian]

dont forget Sonny Anderson, Gourcuff, Coupet, Govou and so many more

[@ephemeralburb]

They also had a really promising future just a couple of years ago, Depay, Aouar, Guiamares, Paqueta and Caqueret all together, they looked set for years in most areas...

[@javierlandaverde4108]

Easy logic, they are completely rebuilding and remodeling their whole structure of football. Makes sense in a business standpoint.

[@lwandomadikizela2213]

Lyon, Ajax and Basel were Champions League regulars not so long ago and two of the three clubs were in the Champions League semi finals since 2019. It's actually shocking they're fighting relegation now after years of mismanagement and financial crisis.

[@ezraezra2928]

Basel were in the Conference League semifinal the last season, which is still considered the best results since Europa League semifinal in 2012/13.

[@willembuysman5217]

Ajax been doing quite well last few matches

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Serie A Leader Look Younger

[@jacobb.2161]

Memphis Depay was a beast at Lyon, and he carried the team to the UCL semi-finals in the 19/20 season.

[@EdgarHunk]

Even though lyon made it to the Champions League semi-final recently..(2019-20 season) their club has been going downhill for a while... Bad decisions and a negative atmosphere are causing the decline. Even with different coaches, the team's mindset hasn't improved...The new owner, Textor, doesn't seem to care, saying relegation isn't a problem.Currently, they're at the bottom, not winning any games this season, but the owner doesn't see the problems. It's tough. Lyon is mostly playing with young academy players and lower league ones, and they're in a tough spot like Ajax, facing relegation...

[@thomas-jo2my]

They just won one last night

[@javierlandaverde4108]

New owner though is completely trying to fix previous owners mistakes. Previous owner left the club financially burden and in debt. Simply, Textor is focusing on paying off the debts especially the club not playing in CL for a while. It sucks because in football standpoint the club is taking the worst hit in performance but financially speaking. That is brilliant because Textor is trying to start from the bottom and will financially support the club once the debt is paid off. He's right, relegation isn't a problem,. It's the debt Lyon has. He's finically structuring to pay more towards developing talent that 3-5 years from now will be lefit French stars again how they had previously with Benzema coming through the ranks. The owner sees the problem, it's the bigger picture that fans dont understand. Yes, short term right now it is bad but long term the club will be financially stable and able to be healthy moving forward.

[@atulrcks]

​@@thomas-jo2mystill in last place

[@e9cw196]

Wish textor would do something at palace

[@chillaxboi2109]

Otro Javi encima, dije exactamente lo msimo antes. @@javierlandaverde4108

[@mjktrx]

I was thinking about this just yesterday and I was hoping to see a video about it, thanks Tifo! Sad that Lyon are where they are now, here’s hoping it’s just a curve and not a straight line downward in the long-term.

[@connor4435]

If you’d like a more in depth video about it might I recommend HITC Sevens

[@Emman3]

kind of unrelated but I tried to start a football manager save with Lyon the other day…the club is in shambles 😂

[@chronostv2071]

🤣🤣🤣

[@danny90099]

Damn dude dont need to beat a dead horse

[@nc8507]

Why torture yourself? Do you like pain?

[@michaelkeitof4666]

Doing an fm Lyon save myself and I found out quickly why their struggling lol

[@joeylau7578]

FM is just too realistic. I had Lyon from every generation of FM from 2019, 20, 21, 22, 23 and the game is just harder and harder

[@michaelfraser1073]

Ultimately, it’s the same problem that Sevilla are having; if you keep selling your best players, it’s hard to not become a worst team.

[@MarcosSoni]

I remember as a college student OL having secure reign on the domestic league for several years. They had a balanced squad with some quality players, and even after their 7-straight ended, they were a formidable squad to contend with (Govou, Juninho, Ederson, and others). But seeing OL on the bottom is quite the sight to see!

[@Ese96Agoaye]

Please do a story on the women's teams rise to assendency. They won their first European title in 2011 aftwr being runners-up the previous year, and since then have made their namw as one of the best clubs in Europe.

[@samuelfinkelstein804]

your vids are awesome! always look forward to them! keep up the great work!

[@rheapoop2304]

The departure and tension with Juninho was also one of the main reason, he got lyon some of their pretty nice signing those last years

[@queenzoroark]

Juninho Pernambucano, legend

[@rheapoop2304]

@@queenzoroark clearly, huge respect for him. Glad he is rumoured to be back in the club as some kind of Locker room representative/director /ambassador something like that

[@queenzoroark]

@@rheapoop2304 After Botafogo's fiasco, he should be Textor's advisor

[@rheapoop2304]

@@queenzoroark well for a fact he knows the game that's sure

[@alexandre526]

It should be said that Aulas management at the end of his presidency was very bad too. More interested in making money than building a competitive team. And many young players sales in 2023 had been planned by him and not under Textor presidency

[@BreenoRovers4ever]

Literally just looked this up last night, was surprised Tifo hadn't already done a video on it.

[@remy2824]

I don’t know how to feel about this video. Thank you for shedding light on our despair and so sad that our sole victory of the season happens last night.

[@anthonyjudeaggabao2302]

Years from now they’ll classify this era in French football as “Post Media Deal Collapse” cause of how much it ruined almost all the Ligue 1 clubs. Ironically this is where France as a national team was at its strongest

[@iegraff]

you guys should do a video-essay on Botafogo situation in the Brasileirão (Brazil's main football competition). They're owned by the same man who bought Lyon (Textor) and they absolutely destroyed the first half of the competition in 2023 (best campaign in history, they had 13pts ahead of the 2nd place, basically eyeing a easy title), but the downfall after October was surreal. It's something we brazilians never saw before.

[@lokmansahat6220]

They finally won a match first time this season against Rennes last early morning

[@rheapoop2304]

Very difficult game for them, the opposition was only 10 and it was still very difficult. But it will be good for morale

[@barmanitan]

Which was matched by Clermont beating Lorient leaving them stuck rock bottom lol

[@rotex03]

Clermont loss somewhat benefits Lyon since they are also in a relegation fight. That win still means something, even if they are still bottom, for now.

[@barmanitan]

@@rotex03I don't understand, Clermont won? So how does that help Lyon? And obviously yes winning is still better than losing regardless of what other teams do

[@rotex03]

@@barmanitan By that win, I meant Lyon's win. As mentioned before, it's good for the morale.

[@thendoronnyramashia749]

Honestly speaking, I can see Manchester United going through something like this in the next 10 years as painful as it is to mention as a supporter if things don't get changed at the top. Their decline is also painful to watch really. I boldly stand to be corrected.

[@jns0808]

nah Man utd simply has too much financial firepower they will always be able to buy their way to at least decent season for most clubs, even if it is a disaster by their standards.

[@JohnM-ch4to]

@@jns0808 that's true but it's a disaster if compared to SAF days. The owners will just be bending over for revenue rather than trophies a la Tottenham at this point. I don't think they would sack managers without pressure from fans and the board.

[@echolot]

If it meant the Glazers would finally f*** off, so be it. GGMU

[@jordanastro4694]

Doubt it. Man Utd are too big to fall off in the same way Lyon has. This year they generated upwards of $600+ million in revenue, and are still one of the most valuable clubs in the world despite no major success in a decade.

[@notboutit6090]

Thats been like that for 15 yrs Man U ISNT going nowhere 😂

[@ezraezra2928]

Ajax, Basel, Lyon, and Schalke 04 were in trouble this season, but there is a good sign here. Ajax had recently reversed their fortunes under the new manager, while Lyon grabbed their first league win this season, though this didn't help them escape from the bottom place as Clermont had won their recent game at the same time. Also, you can include Union Berlin as well. After enjoying their maiden's appearances in 3 European competitions up until the Champions League this season, they somehow hit a rock bottom with the losing streaks in Bundesliga.

[@grobariza]

the manager is only interim at Ajax

[@BoostlessJoe]

the streets will never forget 00's lyon

[@barnetkaunda415]

It's interesting to see how backroom instability does affect infield performances. Lyon and Ajax same script backroom instabilities affecting infield play. A high performance team begins at the backroom not infield. Fix the backroom and performance will improve.

[@danericardo6148]

I love how TIFO and HITC Sevens always do the same topics

[@exodus1960]

Crash course vs long form. I enjoy both.

[@manuelriveros2911]

Both are goated

[@gchetail]

Great video. That was only 3 months ago. So much as changed since.

[@aliukehinde3906]

Wow, amazing how I came across this video after just reading a bloomberg article on how goldman sachs helped restructured olympic lyon debt.

[@nunogomes4954]

I remember at the start of the 2000's alot of people praising lyon, they where pretty much a model club, good mixture of academy players and internationals. Juninho, cris, sonny anderson some that come to mind first. But then enter the billionaires into the game and theyve pretty much ruined all competitions. Man city, psg, chelsea to name a few. Big clubs used to be built from the ground up, making them stable.

[@franklinmayoyo]

Please cover the Everton story. Thank you for the amazing job you guys do.

[@Milos89kv]

In 2006 I bought John Carew n°9 shirt. I loved that player. Been found of Lyon ever since.

[@bennib5]

this is why i love tifo covering world football

[@issahussein9106]

In the league standing image minute 0:09, the columns of L and D are reversed

[@Slothehhh]

Trans World Sport was my favourite Sunday morning cartoon as a boy. I'd wake up, scamper downstairs, and sit a few inches away from the TV just to see what Juninho, Wiltord, Govou and the boys had got up to that week.

[@davidbowie5023]

Marseilles, Lyon and now PSG. This is brutal.

[@BKNL1]

PSG ?

[@galactica604]

Marseille ?

[@eleanorzissou]

Great to see Joe‘s work again!

[@Cafenoir_]

It has to be noted that Lyon was already a sinking club just slower. The factors mentionned in this video just made it spectacular. It's a club that were once a pioneer i the modern football era. It's one of a first club that had people whosejob were taking care of foreign players, to help them adapt in their new country. Unfortunately they were too complacent. We are france too club. That's how we became the best so we are not going to change anything. But football changed from 2000 to 2020.

[@-ingar-]

Add to the list of struggeling clubs, Vålerenga and Rosenborg in Norway

[@kristiansutanto]

4:40 ah, another american trying to prove that their glorified system approach can worked at European football. When will they learn that European football has relegation, very different fans culture, and mainly doesn't have the draft to help bad team conveniently and freely turn around their fortune?

[@brunokallasfs]

He’s the owner of Crystal palace so I’m sure he knows a thing or 2 about that.

[@hoarder1919]

0:07 you put L over the Draws column and D over the Losses column, it bothers me greatly 😢

[@Frenchiixo]

We also lost Memphis depay, moussa dembele, casetello lukeba

[@AliHussein-sf3ij]

Its sad what has happened to lyon once the best team in ligue 1. Winning 7 consecative league 1 titles between 1998-2005 In regular knockout stages of champions league. and playing some attractive football a nice blend of highly rated homegrown youth and high potiental international players. Who would have imagined this nightmare scenario for O.L 😢😢😢

[@alexp9977]

2001-2008*

[@24xv555]

One of those clubs i would buy if i had the money. So much potential.

[@yoshslac]

Can you do it for another massive french club which is falling appart : Bordeaux, ranked 17th in Ligue 2

[@haakonlehn5389]

Common theme with this kind of thing seems to usually be American ownership. I think Chelsea have righted the ship a bit, but Todd Boehly still hasn't proven he can run a club like Abramovich was able to. Granted, he has not had that much time, so the jury is still out on him. However, I can think of other examples like Leeds, etc. I watched the Beckham documentary and listening to the American businessman who was able to bring him over was very indicative of why football never caught on in the States. I think a club needs to be run not solely based on financial considerations, and I think guys like Aulas or De Laurentiis of Napoli or Florentino are perfect for their club because the breathe a certain soul into the club, respecting the institution as a cultural mainstay and not just an investment. I hope Lyon can bring themselves back up, but I think this Textor guy is a real issue. It is an interesting contrast to me to point out the recent fortunes of Newcastle United under Saudi ownership and of course Manchester City is a constant reminder of successful ownership and a streamlined club vision. I think the reason football and the United States have never had a naturally harmonic relationship is due to the soul, passion, history that football in other places seems to be bleed and football is a sport that blooms away from commercialization, so I think American owners will have to submit themselves to that history and not just think about the business aspect if they wish to be successful. I think the Wrexham example is great. The owners are humble, attend the games, meet the locals, etc. and make decisions based on growing the club, not lining their pockets. I know this is not a uniquely American phenomena; plenty of non-American owners have been greedy leeches as well, but I think the United States needs to reconcile the fact that passion for the game and commercial interests do not come hand in hand and perhaps then this new wave of American ownership will have more success.

[@user-bx2kd7jt8t]

Chelsea have rapidly sunk under American owners

[@charlesfairs1427]

Great Football Manager save this year tbh

[@chillaxboi2109]

I don't want people to take this the wrong way but... Relegation for teams like these is always a good thing. It talks more about the ecosystem of the game than it does the team itself. A relegation for Lyon now could mean a much more stable club in 10 years, it could mean more history in the making from other teams strengthening the league, etc. The fact the top 6 in the PL will never see relegation does not bode well for the rest of the league since there will always be 6 teams in power, for example. Something to keep in mind.

[@Weeela]

aaaaaaand we're back, ALLEZ L'OL!!!

[@johndolan9859]

French football has never really had a continuous top team. St ettiene are still the leaders for league wins. Lyon did win 7 titles in the naughtiest, but those are all the wins they’ve ever had. They missed out on a couple more titles, and then psg got their money. Lyon have been fruitlessly chasing the high they had no real right to get, it’s not surprising that it’s eventually led to this very poor situation. Needs a bit of a reset and understanding that it might take a decade or so to be able to really challenge again

[@6rop]

Saint-Etienne is no longer the leader, this has been like that since last season

[@CabbageBloke]

Textor is the problem.

[@palois8407]

It's not the same team a few years ago the team was picked apart for a while and not sure what direction their going in

[@fiasko2008]

You should make a video about Girona's crazy season

[@joeylau7578]

I became somewhat a Lyon fan in early 2019 and followed Lyon through that entire epic champions league run. Unfortunately that was about it, and when I saw the Marcelo OG vs Angers in August 2021 which btw was blatant match-fixing that wasn't punished by the league, I gave up on Lyon and Ligue 1 in general. I still follow Monaco sometimes now but the French league is literally kind of all over the place now.

[@chillahslocal]

It's all fixed

[@KristalMizoreCalma]

Other than PSG, Ligue 1 clubs struggles in domestic and european competition.

[@jjs7837]

2:46 That’s Ferland Mendy..

[@remy2824]

5 years ago you published a video titled "OL : Future Ligue 1 Champions?" This has gone downhill for years.

[@byonick9127]

How can you forget about depay lol 3:36

[@zares_fnx]

For real, what a major overlook. He was such a hard carry, truly amazing player. Too bad injuries are destroying him. He's been having thigh issues since like 10 years, and it only got worse in Barcelona.

[@karlnjiomo]

Memphis Depay also left for free

[@camchildsprod2059]

This is a fire FM save idea

[@tonionemesis]

Lyon supporter here : I think that the main reason is the building of our new stadium : we are the owners of the stadium so its cool bc we can take 100% of benefits made on matchdays and events but we have to pay insane amount of money so while the club need to pay, we can't buy good players since ~2012 The management under Aulas last years was also really bad : transfers like 12M€ on Amin Sarr are unbelievable

[@coachhbosoccer]

They need to rethink their model, they had been successful for a sustained period

[@sirajss1996]

The league table at 10 seconds is wrong. Maybe losses and draws are switched?

[@dontobby89]

they did turn it around brilliantly to be fair

[@brendanshank2299]

Football is crazy rn Chelsea are looking so much better and Ajax Lyon and Basel all fighting to stay up as of now is crazy

[@nevil3076]

Big clubs currently struggling Everton Chelsea Man Utd Sevilla Ajax Lyon Wigan Shalke 04 Marseille Salzburg Basel

[@holeefuk413]

Wigan 😂

[@captainchaos1311]

Man U are 6th what are you talking about

[@nevil3076]

@@captainchaos1311 and by their standards do you honestly think that's a good position?

[@dmac4048]

No way Wigan are a big club!!!!! 😂

[@nevil3076]

@@dmac4048 that's debatable...

[@corvus2512]

Maxence Caquaret has got to leave Lyon this year, he has too much talent to not realize, I had really hoped we would sign him at Liverpool but even if he doesn’t come here he needs to go somewhere and quickly, Dortmund would be a good spot, somewhere that develops talent

[@manutudecen5607]

Lyon fans here and he is not that talented He doesnt have the composure and the skills to compensate for his slowness Aouar was a better prospect for me

[@prasannabalaji1886]

Wherever lacazatte goes the club experiences a decline

[@califsurfer1]

Guys please correct the typos it looks like a rushed work when you write "Bruno Gumimaraes" and even spell Olympique Lyonnais Groupe wrong !

[@emperorvice]

You should watch the video made by Romain Molina, a french journalist, he is giving a lot of details on this subject

[@ShivaKumar-uz8sv]

Felt bad for using Lacka pic😅

[@user-xl1ig1bn6i]

FFP is killing football all over in France, Spain, England, Italy, Dutch and ither leagues.

[@lynncai891]

Nicolas Tagliafico is the unlucky to be at disastrous club after winning world cup with international team..

[@Joy_49]

Tldr: club ownership changed.

[@robertmyles6650]

What's gone wrong with the table at start of the video?

[@Hyperjac]

Sampdoria 😢

[@Ultra_Marathoner_Denis_Keane]

They won last night 🌙

[@stekarenhd6911]

More and more big clubs are struggling while the massive clubs keep getting even more dominant. This is not good for football.

[@tacoebaconvideos]

John Textor is doing a great job with Botafogo so far. Paid a lot of the club's debts and we're serious contenders for the title (flirting with the biggest bottlejob in history) for the first time in 28 years. In less than 2 years, he totally reshaped the club's structure and finances and we as fans, can be disappointed with the result at the end of the season, but it's more than clear that Botafogo is in another path right now.

[@natsudama4604]

Tanto que os torcedores estão xingando ele 😂😂😂

[@tashrif46]

Mismanagement, erosion of talent and bad atmosphere between the fans and the club has created an absolute mess

[@NadirBNSS]

Main Result : Aulas' Administration has significantly failed the last decade exercise ( organisation, structure and bad interests despite stadium investment)

[@Tchiffer]

Manchester united is also heading this way 2:16

[@miketython250]

Memphis was one of their worst losses

[@luke2371]

It’s really sad to think this is the case of one of the biggest clubs in French football history

[@jonpon0182]

Are there any lyon/league 1 fans that can trll me How Tagliafico is doing?

[@ShamaticWow]

Do one on Ajax :D

[@james-ch]

American owner moment

[@OctaneGG]

This might happen to manchester united soon. Seeing the same pattern play out

[@thomschreck]

Do Union Berlin next.

[@ton_of_rocks]

France's Schalke?

[@rubeng3]

This is what people thought would happen to Chelsea.

[@Cardi859]

With American owners, it can really good or very bad

[@user-wm5ji4pf3f]

Olympique Lyon used to win consecutive league titles 🤣 you had the odd championship that Marseille popped up or Monaco but usually it was Lyon. How time changes everything

[@shen_baba]

They are not in danger anymore

[@bobbykbobette7426]

I don't get it, why are you making things up? They are 8 times CL winner, currently 1st of their league... ...Oh, you meant Lyon MEN'S team. Ok.

[@andrewlee-py9zm]

HITC stevens already did a vid on this. yall late 🥱

[@sesuncedu]

The sale of OL Reign is not the real story... The bigger story is that *OL Feminin* was spun off into a group whose majority owner is Michelle Kang, who owns the Washington Spirit (also in the NWSL). The Reign had to be sold because in normal countries you can't just buy more than one team in the same league.

[@joebueno]

Tifo videos are usually great, but you should have googled how to write Bruno Guimarães and Lucas Paquetá this time…

[@regnoditalia2014]

Now Grosso has been sacked

[@husseinjmakshofi2697]

Should not have tried to make Fekir shave his beard

[@aashvinkoomar]

Comeonn Uniteddd!

[@irawangani1]

I am wondering if Bruno Gumimares is still available?

[@doomslayerdave]

How you gonna let Aouar leave for free...

[@darrenchin_]

Crystal Palace fans beware. John Textor seems like he's just trying to Gordon Gekko football clubs.

[@alenboda88]

SIGN ME!What is this?!DO I HAVE TO BAG?!