French Football Supporters: Lisandro Lopez Is Better Than Karim Benzema

Olympique Lyonnais may have lost Karim Benzema to Real Madrid in the summer but French football fans have been impressed with the impact that Lisandro Lopez has made so far this season. In fact, in a poll conducted by Football365, fans actually voted the Argentine ace superior to the burgeoning Frenchman.

Moreover, he has also notched a couple of important goals for his new club, curling home a last minute free-kick to secure a 2-2 draw with Le Mans on the opening day of the season and slamming a penalty kick into the net to help Claude Puel’s men to a 5-1 victory over Anderlecht last Wednesday.

His overall showing against the Belgians was greeted with adoration from the packed Stade Gerland, with fans chanting his name long after he had been substituted and given his curtain-call.

Indeed, having received 55.22 per cent of the votes in a poll that asked: ‘is Lisandro better than Benzema?’ he is clearly held in high esteem already. Benzema claimed only 16.41 per cent of the vote, while the remainder said they thought it was impossible to make a comparison.

Lyon’s fans will, therefore, be distressed to hear that their new hero is missing from Saturday’s game against Auxerre due to a slight adductor problem. He has, however, been called, along with Gabriel Heinze of Olympique de Marseille, into Diego Maradona’s Argentina squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Chile.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com