Nightmare season for Lyon on and off the field

For French team Lyon, this season is turning into a nightmare.

On and off the field, he’s a force to be reckoned with

Coach Peter Bosz’s appointment in May was supposed to bring stability to the seven-time French champion. After 17 games in the French league, the club that dominated domestic soccer before to the arrival of Paris Saint-Germain is now wallowing in midtable, with fan violent occurrences.

Lyon is 22 points behind leader PSG and a long way from its goal of returning to the Champions League next season, as it prepares to play Metz in its final league game before the Christmas break on Wednesday.

Bosz, who is known for his desire to play offensive football, has struggled to strike the appropriate balance in the French league for his players. Lyon had only six league wins this season, in stark contrast to its success in the Europa League, where it qualified for the knockout stages with a total of 16 goals and five wins from six games. That’s a dismal showing for a club with established quality such as Emerson, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Jerome Boateng, Lyon’s biggest summer addition.

Lyon’s president, Jean-Michel Aulas, was banking on these players and Bosz to help the club win a trophy for the first time since 2012. Lyon’s defensive flaws have been exposed far too often, despite the squad’s many attacking assets.

Bosz, a former Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, and Ajax coach, has underperformed his predecessors Rudi Garcia and Bruno Génésio this season, with Lyon conceding 25 goals in the league so far.

Aulas has openly backed his coach, but the decline has already had a significant impact on the club, with sporting director Juninho set to leave in the coming weeks. Lyon’s prosperous years in the 2000s are associated with the former Brazil international, and his choice to leave says a lot about the current circumstances.

Lyon has been enveloped by fan violence in addition to bad outcomes on the field.

The French league’s disciplinary committee docked Lyon one point earlier this month when Marseille midfielder Dimitri Payet was struck by a projectile thrown from the fans at Lyon’s stadium. Following the team’s French Cup game against Paris FC last week, which was called off after fans invaded the pitch, hurled flares, and battled one other in the stands, Lyon is facing more fines.

In the interim, Lyon has decided to ban all supporters from away games until the perpetrators of the violence are identified.

PSG visits Lorient on Wednesday, while Bordeaux welcomes reigning champion Lille.