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OL Memphis Depay won at home, Thursday, July 18, against Celtic Glasgow (2-0), during the second day of the friendly tournament in Lyon, showing renewed confidence before facing PSG, in the League Cup final on July 31.
Two weeks before facing PSG in the League Cup final, and after a first missed and lost 2-0 match against the Glasgow Rangers on Thursday for the first day of the Lyon Tournament, Olympique lyonnais won 2-1, Saturday July 18, against Celtic.
By displaying a conquering and consistent attitude, OL gained confidence before playing two final friendlies, in Belgium, in Ghent against La Gantoise, and Antwerp against Antwerp, on July 22 and 24.
Lyonnais will then have one week left to try and qualify for the Final 8 of the Champions League against Juventus Turin, on August 7 in Turin after winning the 8e final (1-0), on February 26 at home.
For his part, the Parisian ogre will have disputed the final of the Coupe de France against Saint-Etienne, on July 24.
Unlike the match against Rangers, OL started against Celtic against a team that can be described as “type”.
Rudi Garcia abandoned 4-2-3-1 to successfully adopt a 3-5-2 device with Marcelo, Jason Denayer and Fernando Marçal in central defense, Léo Dubois and Maxwel Cornet as full-backs, Bruno Guimaraes, Thiago Mendes, Houssem Aouar in the middle.
Dembélé and Memphis scorers
In attack, Moussa Dembele and Memphis Depay were associated. They are the ones who allowed OL to lead 2-0 at half-time.
Dembélé took over from the lead to the far post a center delivered from the left wing by Marcelo to open the mark at 4e minute while Depay cleverly deflected a Dubois pass with a heel, shortly before half-time (40e).
The Dutchman, who also found the crossbar (54e), had already scored four times in Evian on July 1 against the Swiss fans of Port-Valais (12-0).
However, aside from his goal, the former Manchester United player, who suffered a serious knee injury on December 15 against Rennes, seemed at times to be short of pace despite his efforts. “He needs playing time but it’s encouraging to see him already at this level,” said Rudi Garcia.
While the two official matches that are looming against PSG and Juve, could determine his future at OL, where he has only one year of contract, it seems preferable for him, in the immediate future, that he plays in a point rather than in the heart of the game.
Overall, OL showed good cohesion with a compact team block and consistency between each line. Garcia advocated stability by making only two changes at the end of the game, Marçal and Cornet giving way to Kenny Tete and Youssouf Koné.
At the end of the game, Lyon could however have avoided conceding a goal signed by Mohamed El Younoussi, who got the better of Marcelo (87e). “It is a regret that we should have won more widely if we had converted our opportunities,” said Garcia, who judges his team “on time for its preparation”.
With AFP
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