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five years later, Lacazette back in his garden

Appointed captain of OL, the international striker returns to Groupama Stadium this Friday against Ajaccio. It is one of the attractions of the next season.

«Lots of excitement, envy, little pressure“: the center-forward Alexandre Lacazette spreads his pleasure to have returned to Lyon after five years at Arsenal and displays “its looking forward to fridayat Groupama Stadium, his garden, to face promoted Ajaccio at the opening of Ligue 1 (9 p.m.).

A garden where he had written the first page of his story, he who had scored the first goal of Olympique Lyonnais in his new enclosure. It was against Troyes, January 9, 2016, for a victory (4-1). “On a pass from Clément Grenier“, Still remembers the 31-year-old striker.

Just before his departure for England with a transfer of 53 million euros in June 2017, it was also there, against Nice (3-3), that he had scored his 99th and 100th goals in Ligue 1, for OL, where he trained and made his professional debut (2010).

Number 91 and captain’s armband

«I always kept in mind that I could come back to Lyon one day“, he explained Thursday in a press conference, shortly after coach Peter Bosz formalized that he would be the team captain this season, with the number 91. “Alexandre comes from a very big club, from a very big league. He will help us with his experience abroad to also supervise our young players. It will do us a lot of good“, estimated Bosz, referring to a player”who is not afraid to say things as he means them and who does not need to shout to be heard».

«I will have a bit of a big brother role. I have a lot of pride in wearing the armband. I was at Arsenal but there, it’s different because I’m a child of the club. This marks the confidence of the club, my teammates and the coach. I take this role more for pleasure than for obligation.“, confided the striker who hopes, next spring, to reach 28 goals, as for his last season at OL (2016-2017, 4th), against only four in 2021-2022 with Arsenal.

However, five years later, Alexandre Lacazette claims to be less obsessed with the goal: “I’m more collective, I try to lead a little more, to help my teammates. I have never been selfish, I have never thought only of myself. And if I don’t score and we go to the Champions League, that’s fine with me».

Europe objective

The player, who claims to have no disagreement with Bosz as rumors have led him to believe, therefore intends to be OL’s guide for a season under the sign of revenge after a catastrophic eighth place in the league which deprives the Rhone club in the European Cup. “Everyone wants to do well and find the European places“, he says, after an encouraging pre-season, more on the offensive than defensive level where the team seems to remain as fragile as during the last exercise.

Captain against Inter Milan in the last warm-up match (2-2), Lacazette scored the first goal of the game. Panoramic

In the meantime, Alexandre Lacazette, who has not scored in an official match since March 13 against Leicester in the Premier League (2-0) but who scored three goals during the preparation period, “think you are welcomeas he entered the stadium.

«I don’t worry about the expectations that there may be because I know that there will always be some, that my actions will be commented on. At the club, I know that my return is positive. I hope it will last a long time and that Friday everything will be fine“, he concluded, ready to draw to score his 101st Lyon goal.

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