On the balance of play Lyon were deservedly knocked out of the Europa League by Tottenham nine days ago.
However in the end the French side were only denied a place in the last-16 by a last gasp Moussa Dembele strike.
But for a club very much in transition, a Europa League knockout appearance and second place in Ligue 1 behind mega-rich PSG is an excellent achievement.
This season is the first time in 12 years that Lyon has not been involved in the Champions League. Perennial league champions and Champions League knockout stage regulars for much of the last decade, the last four years have not been satisfying for the club’s owners.
Having won every league title between 2001/02 and 2007/08, chairman Jean-Michel Aulas appointed ex-Lille and Monaco coach Claude Puel in the summer of 2008. But his managerial reign coincided with a period of decline as Lyon became less adept at replacing departing stars with equivalent levels of talent – although they did spend big on the likes of Yoann Gourcuff to no avail.
Debts
The club has debts of approximately €25 million, a legacy of those vast outlays as Lyon’s attentions turned towards making a bigger impact in the Champions League.
But there is optimism for the future and it stems from Les Gones youth academy.
Backed by petro-dollars from the Arab gulf, PSG are likely to win the French league title this season. But until now Lyon has pushed them all the way. Sitting in second place, just three points behind the Parisian giants, Lyon has kept pace thanks to the fruits of their own academy.
Club captain Maxime Gonalons, striker Alexandre Lacazette, midfielder Clement Grenier and defender Samuel Umtiti are among the academy products who have become key players this season under the astute stewardship of ex-Arsenal and Lyon midfielder Remi Garde.
In fact the Lyon team that started against Spurs had an average age of 25, with four academy products under 23 years of age.
Regularly producing their own young stars and backing them up with experienced heads like ex-Tottenham man Steed Malbranque and defender Antoine Reveillere will be key for Lyon as they cannot match PSG in the transfer market and will surely lose the likes of Gonalons to Europe’s wealthier clubs within the next few years.
Like Feyenoord, Sevilla, Real Betis and a host of mid-level European sides, surviving on their own resources will be important and to achieve that healthy youth programmes will be essential.
However Lyon have another key development in the works. At the start of 2014/15 they will be moving out of the 40,500 seater Stade Gerland and into the newly-built Stade des Lumieres which has a capacity of 60,000 – a future source of revenue if the project suffers no more delays.
With a likely return to next season’s Champions League group stages - provided they remain on course in the final few games of the league campaign – they look to have halted the decline and can look to the future.
