Europe » Rest Of Europe » France

Olympique Lyonnais Must Take Struggling Grenoble Seriously – Claude Puel

Nothing can be taken for granted by les Gones ahead of their fixture against GF38...

Nov 21, 2009 12:40:33 PM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Ligue 1 : Claude Puel (Lyon)

Teams

Players

Grenoble have only one point from a possible 36 in Ligue 1 thus far, but Olympique Lyonnais coach Claude Puel has called for the utmost vigilance from his side, who travel to meet GF38 at the Stade des Alpes on Saturday evening.

“If you're not ready in my head, you can lose anywhere,” Puel told the pre-match press conference, according to L’Equipe.

“Everyone expects us to win, but it will not be a picnic. We must respond now, especially keeping a good state of mind.”

Puel does not only believe complacency will be a problem. The international break has also caused him a few headaches.

“We had up to 13 [players] absent. It is unique to the great clubs,” he mused. “It is never clear to furnish these periods for those who remain or to focus very quickly on the league for those who have experienced strong emotions with their national teams.”

Lyon will be boosted by the return of Jean-Alain Boumsong, who is keen to get back to business after an injury-hit start to the campaign.

“Just playing again is ideal,” the international centre-back, who has played only once this term, explained to Ligue 1’s official website.

“Things won't necessarily be easy against Grenoble, especially after the draw they managed against Monaco. Their hopes of staying up will have been boosted and they have rediscovered some energy. They will want to beat OL and will be thinking that all runs have to come to an end.

“For a club like OL, it is always difficult to get going again after an international break. On the other hand Grenoble will have put it to good use. We will have to be concentrated and respect the orders given by the coach.”

If Lyon are wary, Grenoble are surprisingly confident, especially having pinched a point away to Monaco last time out.

“It was starting to weigh heavily on our shoulders because people were always asking us just how long the record bad start would go on,” Laurent Courtois stated.

“We've been working pretty well for the last few weeks and playing pretty well too, even if that hasn't been reflected in our points tally.”

Lyon go into the game missing Jeremy Toulalan through injury and Aly Cissokho through suspension. Anthony Reveillere is also missing for the hosts.

Grenoble have fared better on the injury front, recovering several key players including top scorer Danijel Ljuboja for Saturday night’s game.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com

Thank you for your comment!

Please enter your name

Please enter your location

Please share your comment!