Nice will travel to Gerland on Saturday at 8 pm to face Olympique Lyonnais. The 10th ranked team in Ligue 1 will play against the undisputed leader of the championship, who may be weakened after being eliminated by AC Milan last Tuesday in the Champions League quarterfinals. Florian Jarjat, full-back for the Eaglets, and Eric Roy, marketing director of OGC Nice, former Lyon player who was present at the Milanese stands on Tuesday, talk about Saturday’s match.
Tuesday was OL’s date with French football history, a missed opportunity with an elimination by AC Milan. By coincidence, this Saturday OL will face OGC Nice in the league, who wear the same colors as the Lombard club.
Will the Lyonnais take their revenge on the Eaglets? “I would have preferred Lyon to eliminate Milan. Nice could have then benefited from some relaxation. I’m afraid that the Lyonnais will want to immediately forget their disappointment,” predicted Eric Roy, a former player under President Aulas from 1993 to 1996 and now director of marketing at OGC Nice.
Still on good terms with the leadership of the Rhône club, he was invited to follow Milan-OL from the stands of Giuseppe Meazza. OL had hoped to have a good luck charm. Indeed, Eric Roy was on the field at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome during the first European feat of the Jean-Michel Aulas era with the elimination of Lazio Rome. In a few lines, Eric Roy sums up his time in the Rhône: “Jean-Michel Aulas is a visionary. I wore the Olympique Lyonnais jersey while the club was building itself. I stayed three seasons with excellent results and European Cup qualifications, and then I left for another adventure by joining Olympique de Marseille.”
Ten years after leaving Lyon, Eric Roy finds a club at the top European level even though it has been failing since now three seasons in the Champions League quarterfinals. He appreciates and analyzes OL’s performance on the Milanese pitch: “Lyon managed the match perfectly until the 88th minute. The dynamics of the match were exemplary until then. I was impressed by OL’s control. I was also delighted to see 10,000 Lyon fans in Milan.” What was missing? Eric Roy shares the opinion of Jean-Michel Aulas and most observers: “The team lacks a goal scorer. I think with a player like Thierry Henry, the score would have been reversed.”
The Eaglets will challenge the Lyon giant on Saturday without pressure, a beast certainly wounded but capable of swift retaliations. In the first leg, OGC Nice almost inflicted the first defeat of the season on the four-time French champion. Lyon, led by a goal from Mamadou Bagayoko in the 21st minute, struggled to finally equalize in the last quarter of an hour by Sydney Govou. Frédéric Antonetti’s men will want to take advantage of the physical and surely moral fatigue of the Lyonnais. The cautious Nice coach will deliberately deny himself Sammy Traoré, Cédric Varrault, and Olivier Echouafni. These three key men from the Gym’s roster risked being suspended for the League Cup final in case of a yellow card.
Eric Roy predicts a balanced match: “Since its return to L1, Nice has obtained two draws in three confrontations. I therefore predict a 2-2 draw, hoping for a spectacular match at Gerland.”
Interview with Florian Jarjat, scorer in the last match.
Nice-Première: What is your analysis of the Milan-Lyon match? Were you supporting OL or just a spectator?
Florian Jarjat: The elimination of Lyon is unfortunate for French football. Given the context of the match, the defeat is sad. Besides the result, we saw a strong Lyon team for an hour and an underperforming AC Milan. I watched the match more as a spectator than a supporter, but when you put yourself in the players’ shoes, you feel bitterness and sadness.
NP: You are originally from Valence, not far from Lyon. Does that make Olympique Lyonnais a special club in your eyes?
FJ: Being from Valence, matches against Lyon have always been special, and this has been the case since the youth teams. Valence played in L2 and Saint Etienne and Lyon, cities of Rhône-Alpes like Valence, played in L1. There was rivalry because they were professional teams with many internationals. I mingled with some Lyonnais like Malbranque, Suchet, Viera, or Hellebuyck in regional selections, but I don’t have particular affiliations. They kept to themselves.
NP: How do you see the match on Saturday?
FJ: It will be a difficult match. They will be eager to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd from their elimination. I don’t know in what physical state they will be, but we must seize all opportunities. We will have three absentees (Cédric Varrault, Olivier Echouafni, Sammy Traoré), but this allows the whole group to prepare well for the final. Thus, everyone is involved and ready to replace any player in case of injury.
NP: A prediction?
FJ: Victory for Nice 1-0.
