Lyon’s Laurent Blanc furious after Nantes’ home draw: “Everyone has disappointed me.”

Laurent Blanc was particularly upset and angry after Les Gones’ latest disappointing display. Lyon drew 1-1 at home against 14th-placed side Nantes on Friday night in the opener of Ligue 1 gameweek 28. The visitors pulled ahead early on through an own goal from Lyon centre-back Castello Lukeba. The hosts equalised thanks to Alexandre Lacazette before the half hour mark. Embroiled in the fight to avoid relegation, Nantes settled for an away point while Lyon failed to clinch the win in a drab second half.

Blanc was furious with his side’s display. “When you play football, you’ve got to respect the game. We did not”, assessed Blanc in his post-game press conference that RMC Sport attended. “We played backwards. I hate when you don’t respect the game.” The 1998 World Cup winner with France did not hold back when asked about his side’s performance against Les Canaris and seemed to claim that he could have replaced every single one of his players on Friday. “The second half was unbelievably poor technicality-wise. We are disappointing and I emphasise ‘We’. Everyone has disappointed me. It felt like the ball was burning my players’ feet“, said a seething Blanc.

Lyon’s only hopes to play European football next season rest solely on their Coupe de France run. The Laurent Blanc-led side will play the semi-finals against Nantes, at La Beaujoire, on April 5th. And this time, there will be a winner.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval