Ligue 1: Lyon fighting ‘tooth and nail’ to reach Champions League again

Lyon did not make much of a lasting impact on the Champions League this season, but they would like another crack and are fighting to finish among France's top three.

Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette shown during a Ligue 1 match against Lille in September. Robert Pratta / Reuters / September 12, 2015

Lyon defender Christophe Jallet has his sights set on a Champions League return despite the club's harrowing experience in this season's competition.

The Ligue 1 side took just one point from their opening five group games this term before gaining a consolation victory over Gary Neville's Valencia.

Manager Hubert Fournier paid the price for a poor first half of the season when he was sacked on Christmas Eve, but Lyon have improved considerably since under Bruno Genesio.

And with distance still left to run in the battle for the top three places, Lyon are optimistic they can climb from their current station in fourth.

They will aim to benefit should champions Paris Saint-Germain topple third-placed Nice in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

In that circumstance, even a draw for Lyon against Lorient on Sunday evening should be enough to lift them into third place, but the objective will be all three points against a team mired in lower mid-table.

It came as a blow when PSG lost to AS Monaco before the international break, with the principality side going five points clear in second place as a result after that round of games.

“Monaco took their chance,” said Jallet.

“It would have been great for us had PSG won. We would have gone to within three points of Monaco.”

The France international said on Lyon’s website: “There are seven matches left, and we’re into it tooth and nail. We’ve come a long way already but we still have six points to make up. We really want to get back into the Champions League. We have a lot more experience now than we did last season.”

Second place would take Lyon into the group stages, and third would mean Champions League preliminaries.

But better that and games in mid-summer than a Europa League mission.

Jallet said: “I’d prefer to finish third than fourth, even if it curtails your pre-season, which can be tough. But it’s the Champions League and it would bespeak a lack of ambition on our part if we thought it was too hard. Our objective remains to finish in second place.”

While Monaco faced Bordeaux on Friday night, Nice were heading north to tackle Laurent Blanc’s Parisians, the pre-eminent side in French football.

Rennes, Caen, Saint-Etienne and Nantes may also hold distant dreams of breaking into the top three come the end of the campaign, but each must finish the season strongly to stake a claim.

Saturday sees Rennes have home advantage against Reims, Caen face Toulouse, and Saint-Etienne travel to face Gazelec Ajaccio. On Sunday, Nantes play Lille.

Troyes, at the foot of the table with just two wins in 31 games, will be relegated on Saturday night if they lose at home to mid-table Angers.

Guingamp and Montpellier could be dragged into the relegation picture, so their Saturday showdown is one that comes with high stakes, while Bastia and Marseille lurk just marginally better off in mid-table ahead of their clash in Corsica on Sunday.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport