After months of struggle, Olympique Lyonnais is doing better. Red lantern in Ligue 1 from September 30 to December 15, the seven-time French champion club won, under the orders of interim coach Pierre Sage, its last three matches to end the year 2023 outside the red zone (15th with two points ahead of the jump-off runner). Symbol of this period of improvement for Les Gones: the rapprochement between Jean-Michel Aulas and John Textor.
The two men, at odds since the total takeover of power by the American businessman who pushed Aulas out last May, nevertheless seemed irreconcilable. The former president of OL even filed a complaint against his successor following comments made by the latter at a press conference.
Textor has taken the first step
However, Aulas and Textor were seen together at Groupama Stadium on the occasion of the success won by Alexandre Lacazette and his team against Toulouse (3-0) on December 10. A match which marked the return of “JMA” to the Lyon enclosure since his ouster at the end of last season. A comeback initiated by the American multimillionaire.
“We decided to discuss,” reveals Jean-Michel Aulas in an interview broadcast by Canal + this Friday. From that moment on, John said to me: “You have to come back to the stadium. » As I didn’t have room, I asked him how we did it. He said to me: “You come behind me, close to me. We will go see the players together before this match. »
Jean-Michel Aulas on his relationship with John Textor ????️
????️ “We talked. John told me to come to the stadium (during Lyon / Toulouse on December 11). (…) I think it’s an act of reconciliation” pic.twitter.com/iXAWAQx98Q
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) December 22, 2023
The new vice-president of the FFF then recounted his “embarrassment” at returning to the Lyon locker room. “They must have been surprised,” he explains, speaking of Pierre Sage’s players. I was too. I was very moved. My legs were made of cotton. I wasn’t prepared, and what’s more, it was very emotional. » Relieved, Aulas also confided that he saw this rapprochement with Textor not as “an act of communication” but rather “as a positive act of reconciliation which allowed everyone to find their bases”.
