Jean-Michel Aulas, Rémi Garde, Bruno Genesio, Grégory Cup, Sidney Govou, Dominique Rocheteau, Fleury Di Nallo, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernandez, Manuel Amoros, Joël Bats, Marius Trésor, Raymond Domenech … It would take an entire page to govern the names come to pay a last tribute to Bernard Lacombe, Legend of Ol and French football, first European champion players with the Blues in 1984 to leave his own. Innumerable of his former protégés at OL had also come, including Karim Benzema, briefly and discreetly present before the start of the ceremony.
It was a blazing sun this Tuesday afternoon in Fontaines-sur-Saône. An overwhelming heat, almost as heavy as the sorrow that has hugged Lyon for a week. Since Bernard Lacombe, a tutelary figure of the club, died at the age of 72. At 2:30 p.m., the applause accompanied the arrival of the coffin of the second top scorer in the history of Ligue 1, in front of the Saint-Louis church.
A thousand people were there, more numerous inside than outside. We could have expected an even more massive crowd, but the heat wave and the prospect of a very dense gathering undoubtedly discouraged some. Others preferred to meditate in Fourvière, where Bernard Lacombe was going to pray regularly. On the bridge that spans the Saône, just in front of the church, a banner of the Bad Gones said everything: “Eternal Lyonnaise legend, farewell Mr. Bernard Lacombe. »»
The old world was crying one of his family, the new one shone with his silence
In the church, the words tried to take over from silence. Jean-Michel Aulas, the first, spoke. Fifteen minutes of a dense, staff, tearing out: “I lose a brother. Part of me leaves with you. A part of OL too. But I also believe that another part of me is reborn. Your departure reminds me of what matters, what to transmit. You Bernard you have never played a role, you embodied the values that we need today at OL. At OL we need figures that bring together, no divisions. »»
Impossible not to hear, behind this sentence, a direct allusion to the current storm that OL crosses, demoted the day before in Ligue 2 by the DNCG. An earthquake that made all the conversations rustle around the Church.
Because mourning was twofold. That of a man, and that of a close club. OL was represented by Michael Gerlinger, Matthieu Louis-Jean and Jean Sudres. Official presence, of course. But no strong incarnation. John Textor shone by his absence. The old world was crying one of his family, the new one shone with his silence.
Before entering the church, Grégory Coupet, on the verge of tears, cracked in front of the microphones: “Bernard was a guide. A fantastic leader. “On demotion, he did not elude his discomfort:” Like everyone, I am worried. Jacques Santini, very worthy after the ceremony, spoke of a family member: “We knew each other, we were barely 16 years old. He was like my brother. He took me to see sick children in specialized institutes. He managed to make them smile, and leaving, it was he who gave me strength because I was not standing. Bernard gave everything to OL. “And on the rest, a sigh:” I don’t know all the elements. But no longer see OL in Ligue 1 … it would be a huge void. »»
At the end, one of the members of his family had found the most simple, the most powerful words: “You are for us the lion in all its splendor. And the lion never dies. With Bernard Lacombe, it was a certain idea of OL who went.
