Ligue 1: In Lyon as in Saint-Etienne, the derby is THE match not to be missed

For players from Lyon and Saint-Étienne of origin, the Lyon – Saint-Etienne derby, Sunday (8:45 p.m.) at the Groupama stadium during the 11th day of L1, classified as very high risk in terms of security, is “the match not to be missed”.

This is the 125th edition of this duel between the two rival clubs, with 46 victories for OL against 44 in favor of ASSE and 34 draws.

The supremacy of the Greens dates back to the 1960s and 1970s, at the time of their European epic. The Lyonnais dominated the derby during their hegemony over French football, in the 2000s.

In Lyon, Alexandre Lacazette, Corentin Tolisso, Maxence Caqueret and Rayan Cherki, and to a lesser degree Georges Mikautadze (at the training center until the age of 15), were immersed in the atmosphere of this derby from a very young age.

In Saint-Etienne, there are also many in the same situation: Léo Pétrot, Aïmen Moueffek, Louis Mouton, Mathis Amougou and Mickaël Nade.

Codes to transmit

Whether they are from one camp or the other, these players « maison » are responsible for transmitting the codes of this rivalry to their teammates, foreign players or those from other regions of France.

“It’s a chance to compete in a derby for a pure Stéphanois like me. It’s up to me to pass on certain messages to the new ones. They have already understood and will continue to understand it well. We will honor the jersey and we will give everything”confides Léo Pétrot who “looking forward to playing this exciting match”.

“We explain how important the derby is, and they are sometimes surprised. I think they didn’t expect this match to be so memorable.”responds Alexandre Lacazette, captain of OL.

“They have always been our rivals, and there are even supporters who prefer to win the two derbies rather than the championship. Videos come up regularly, we were able to show them and I hope they resonated in their minds”he warns again.

“When we knew they were moving up to Ligue 1, it was an important date for us. We’re there, it’s good. I wouldn’t say there’s any impatience because we play every three days and we’ve just come back from Germany.”continues Lacazette.

Win to have peace of mind

OL, seventh in Ligue 1, which remains on three draws and one defeat, played a Europa League match on Thursday against Hoffenheim (2-2) while ASSE (16th and play-off) quickly plunged in the derby after winning against Strasbourg (2-0) on November 2.

“When we moved up to Ligue 1 and once the calendar appeared, we marked the two dates against Lyon. We have been focused for a week and there is a lot of desire to play it”underlines Pétrot.

The latter expects a difficult meeting for the Greens.

“Lyon has a great team with good players. We know it will be very difficult especially as we haven’t won away yet.”said the Saint-Etienne defender, referring to “an opportunity to launch (our) season”.

For his part, Lacazette remains “distrustful” towards an adversary “going through a difficult time”.

“But Saint-Etienne has quality and is tough in duels, good on the counterattack. Even if it is not always dream football, you will still have to be vigilant”he insists.

Whether they are on one side or the other, the players of each team will give everything for their supporters, for whom this match is of particular importance.

“If we win the derby, we can lose elsewhere”also used to affirm the Little Prince of Gerland, Fleury Di Nallo (81 years old), co-top scorer in the history of this derby with Stéphanois Hervé Revelli (14 goals).

fjt/bla/chc