The 2008–09 season was Olympique Lyonnais's 50th anniversary season in Ligue 1 and was their 20th consecutive season in the top division of French football. They were the defending champions having won the title the past seven consecutive seasons. They were entering the season after achieving their first ever double after winning the Coupe de France, along with their league title.
News Following the 2007–08 season, it was announced by Lyon Chairman Jean-Michel Aulas that manager Alain Perrin would not be returning despite being the first Lyon manager to win the double. Lyon management attributed the firing to "Perrin's several malfunctions that affected the squad daily throughout the season" and their constant failure in Europe.COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE Following an extensive search, which linked the Lyon managerial position to several managers, including former Manchester United assistant and current Portugal national football team coach Carlos Queiroz,Lyon: Carlos Queiroz pisté? Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo,Vanderlei Luxemburgo said he is unlikely to quit and former French players and managers Didier Deschamps and Laurent BlancPuel 'Very Happy' With Lyon Move to name a few, it was announced on 18 June 2008 that Lille manager Claude Puel would succeed Perrin.Claude Puel nouvel entraîneur général
During the managerial search, Lyon made several transfers, though even prior to the managerial search, Lyon made a significant transfer deal, signing Brazilian midfielder Ederson from Nice in January for €15 million.Eurosport.uk The summer transfers included Hugo LlorisHugo Lloris est Lyonnais (€8.5 million) who was brought in to replace to outgoing Grégory Coupet, Miralem PjanićMiralem Pjanic est Lyonnais (€7.5 million), Jean Makoun (€14 million) and John MensahJohn Mensah est lyonnais (€8.4 million), who was brought in to replace the outgoing Sébastien Squillaci.
Following last year promotions of youth players Sandy Paillot, Anthony Mounier and Romain Beynié from the youth scheme to the professional squad, Lyon signed another set of youth players to professional contracts. Midfielders Pierrick ValdiviaValdivia passe pro (no relation to Chilean playmaker Jorge Valdivia), Clément GrenierUNFP Trophies: OL players shine – Women's team: two-time French champions (DiR) and Saïd Mehamha, and striker Yannis Tafer were promoted to the first-team squad, although they will still play on Lyon's second squad in the CFA. Lyon also sign young prospect Timothée Kolodziejczak from Lens. Kolodziejcak, a teammate of Tafer and Grenier on the international stage, will initially move to Lyon on a loan with a purchase clause likely to occur at a later date.Thimothée Kolodziecziak est Lyonnais Also in an effort to increase their youths' playing time, Lyon re-loaned Sandy Paillot to Grenoble for the entirety of the season Paillot prêté à Grenoble and loaned out midfielder Romain Beynié to Belgian side Tubize.
Notable departures included Loïc Rémy, who moved to Nice and French wunderkind Hatem Ben Arfa, who moved to rivals Marseille. The Ben Arfa move was put into speculation after Lyon officials argued that an agreement was not made between the two clubs.Lyon Block Ben Arfa Move However, after a meeting between the two clubs organized by the LFP, the transfer was back on. Morevor, aforementioned central defender Sébastien Squillaci moved to Sevilla of La Liga.Squillaci completes Sevilla switch
Other departures include Grégory Coupet, who moved to Atlético Madrid after spending 12 years with the club,Atletico sign Coupet from Lyon Patrick Müller and Frédéric Roux, whose contracts expired on 30 June 2008,VON BERGEN TO MISS EURO 2008 WITH HAND INJURY and Marc Crosas, who returned to Barcelona after spending the winter on loan with Lyon. Inconsistent striker Milan Baroš additionally moved to Turkish side Galatasaray.
This summer also saw the departure of several Lyon youth players who will attempt to ply their trade elsewhere. Lossémy Karaboué,Sedan: Arrivée de Karaboué Alexandre Bouchard,Chatearoux: Bouchard signe trois ans and Aurélien Badin have moved to Ligue 2 sides Sedan, Châteauroux and Troyes respectively. The Italian Francesco Migliore moved to Belgian side R.A.E.C. Mons.Francesco Migliore signe à Mons Young striker Stephen Ettien moved to Scottish side Hamilton Academical,Hamilton make late triple signing while Mohamed Bedda and Mickael Charvet earned trials at Strasbourg and Nice respectively.
Transfers
Summer 2008 In DatePos.No.NameFromFeeSource 2008-01-29 MF 7 Ederson Nice €15M Eurosport.uk 2008-05-15 FW 34 Yannis Tafer Promoted from Reserves Boursica.com 2008-05-15 MF 22 Clément Grenier Promoted from Reserves Boursica.com 2008-05-17 DF 15 Sandy Paillot Grenoble return from loan 2008-06-02 GK 1 Hugo Lloris Nice €8.5m OLweb.fr 2008-06-05 MF 13 Pierrick Valdivia Promoted from Reserves Mercato365.com 2008-06-06 MF 18 Miralem Pjanić Metz €7.5M OLweb.fr 2008-06-17 MF 17 Jean Makoun Lille €14M OLweb.fr 2008-07-01 MF 31 Saïd Mehamha Promoted from Reserves Mercato365.com 2008-07-09 MF 26 Fábio Santos São Paulo return from loan 2008-07-27 ST 21 Milan Baroš Portsmouth return from loan 2008-07-21 DF 15 John Mensah Rennes €8.4M OLweb.fr 2008-07-31 FW 39 Frédéric Piquionne AS Monaco €4.5M OLweb.fr 2008-08-21 DF 12 Timothée Kolodziejczak Lens On loan OLweb.fr
Total spending: €57.9 million
Summer 2008 out DatePos.No.NameToFeeSource 2008-05-26 MF -- Mohamed Bedda Strasbourg On trial RacingStub.com 2008-06-02 FW 44 Lossémy Karaboué Sedan Free transfer Mercato365.com 2008-06-05 FW 12 Loïc Rémy Nice €8M Mercato365.com 2008-06-24 GK -- Alexandre Bouchard Châteauroux Free transfer Football365.fr 2008-06-24 DF 36 Aurélien Badin Troyes Free transfer Mercato365.com 2008-06-30 GK 35 Frédéric Roux TBA End of contract 2008-06-30 DF 4 Patrick Müller AS Monaco Free transfer Setanta.com 2008-06-30 MF 21 Marc Crosas Barcelona loan return 2008-07-01 MF 18 Hatem Ben Arfa Marseille €12M Mercato365.com 2008-07-05 GK 1 Grégory Coupet Atlético Madrid €1.5M Soccerway.com 2008-07-14 DF 47 Francesco Migliore Mons Free transfer LyonCapitale.fr 2008-07-15 DF 22 Anderson São Paulo loan SkySports.com 2008-07-17 DF 29 Sébastien Squillaci Sevilla €6.5M UEFA.com 2008-08-20 DF 15 Sandy Paillot Grenoble On loan Mercato365.com 2008-08-21 MF 24 Romain Beynié Tubize On loan Mercato365.com 2008-08-26 FW 21 Milan Baroš Galatasaray €5.5M Galatasaray.org 2008-08-30 FW -- Stephen Ettien Hamilton Academical Free transfer AcciesFC.co.uk
Total income: €33.5 million
Winter 2009 out DatePos.No.NameToFeeSource 2009-01-23 DF 22 Anderson Cruzeiro Loan Mercato365.com 2009-01-31 DF 33 Mickaël Charvet Ajaccio Free transfer Mercato365.fr 2009-03-01 FW 9 Fred Fluminense Free SkySports.com
Squad information Last updated May 30, 2009
Club
Coaching staff
Other information
Team kits Umbro will provide the kits for Olympique Lyonnais. Umbro have been the official kit provider of Lyon since 2003 and just last year signed an extension with Lyon until 2013. This season, Lyon will have brand new home, away, and Champions League kits. The kits were presented on June 30, 2008.Lancement des maillots 2008/2009 The new home kit is original white with the red and blue vertical strip, along with single blue stripes along the shoulders. The new away kit is all blue with single black stripes along the shoulders and the new Champions League away kit is electric yellow with the red and blue vertical stripe, along with single red and blue stripes on the shoulders.Les nouveaux maillots 2008/09, enfin dévoilés The team's alternate away kit consists of the home shirt with red shorts and white socks. It is only worn when Lyon are unable to wear their white shorts in an away tie due to the designated home team wearing white shorts.Benzema coup franc contre Saint-Etienne
Pre-season friendlies Lyon played a total of six friendly matches. Lyon opened up their pre-season on 12 July with a 3–2 victory over Nîmes in Albertville, near Tignes, the location of Lyon's pre-season camp. A week later, on 19 July, they traveled away to Bucharest to face Rapid București, which resulted in a 2–1 loss. They then took a trip to Belgrade to play against Partizan on 23 July. Lyon came out with a positive result, beating the Serbian side 3–1 with goals from Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou. They followed that victory up with another as they cruised to a 3–0 victory over Ligue 1 side Nancy in nearby Villefranche-sur-Saône. Their last friendly in the month of July would in turn be a 0–1 defeat to AS Monaco on July 29 in Annecy.Les matchs amicaux de l'OL
Friendly
Competitions Lyon opened up their Ligue 1 season in a positive fashion, defeating Toulouse 3–0 with a brace from Karim Benzema and a rare goal from Jean Makoun. Following a 0–0 draw away to Lorient, which dropped them to third in the league standings, Lyon rebounded with back-to-back wins over Rhône-Alpes rivals Grenoble and Saint-Étienne respectively. Following that, Lyon picked up their third-straight victory with a 3–2 win over Nice. The match was, however, marred with controversy—after trailing 0–2, Lyon got back into the match with two spectacular free-kicks from Juninho. With the match in injury time and looking to end in a draw, referee Jean-Charles Cailleux and one of his assistant referees ruled a handball infraction had been committed by Nice defender Vincent Hognon in the box, giving Lyon a penalty which was converted by Benzema. Looking at the replay, it could have easily been determined that the handball infraction had been without malice and that the penalty should have not been given. However, Lyon escaped with a victory, which moved them into first place. They followed this win up with back to back one goal wins over newly promoted side Le Havre and Nancy giving them five-straight league victories.
The following week, Lyon received their first loss in the league against Rennes that would later be described as a "thrashing" by the media.French champions Lyon slump to first defeat Lyon struggled in every aspect of the match and allowed Rennes striker Mickaël Pagis to score a hat-trick, the last goal being a beautiful strike from almost 30 yards out.Rennes 3-0 lyon, triplé de Pagis The loss to Rennes showed as Lyon's horrible form continued drawing with both Lille and Auxerre the following two weeks. Lyon finally got back on track with shut-out wins over Sochaux, Le Mans and Monaco before heading into their showdown with imminent rivals Bordeaux. With Lyon playing at home, they proved to still be the most dominant French side in the league, defeating Bordeaux 2–1 with goals from Benzema and a beautiful goal from Kim Källström.Lyon beats title rival Bordeaux 2-1 to move seven points ahead in standings The following week, Lyon got another test, this time in Paris. In this match, Lyon not only incurred their second defeat, but they lost their consistent right back Anthony Réveillère to injury with the player likely being out for the season, though he later returned to the squad.Lyon defender Reveillere out for season The following match, Lyon only managed a 0–0 draw in the downpouring rain against Valenciennes.Lyon held by lowly Valenciennes