2007–08 Olympique Lyonnais season

The 2007–08 season was Olympique Lyonnais's 49th season in Ligue 1 and their 19th consecutive season in the top division of French football. They were the defending champions having won the title the past six consecutive seasons.

Lyon

2007–08 season
Chairman	Jean-Michel Aulas
Manager	Alain Perrin
Stadium	Stade de Gerland
Ligue 1	1st
Trophée des Champions	Winners
Coupe de la Ligue	Quarter-finals
Coupe de France	Winners
Champions League	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Karim Benzema (20) All: Karim Benzema (31)
Highest home attendance	40,381 vs Bordeaux (9 March 2008)
Lowest home attendance	20,012 vs Sochaux (18 March 2008)

Current squad

As of 8 March 2008. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FRA Grégory Coupet (vice-captain) 2 DF  FRA François Clerc 3 DF  BRA Cris (vice-captain) 4 DF   SUI Patrick Müller 5 MF  FRA Mathieu Bodmer 6 MF  SWE Kim Källström 8 MF  BRA Juninho (captain) 9 FW  BRA Fred 10 FW  FRA Karim Benzema 11 DF  ITA Fabio Grosso 14 MF  FRA Sidney Govou 18 MF  FRA Hatem Ben Arfa 19 FW  ARG César Delgado

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF  FRA Anthony Réveillère 21 MF  ESP Marc Crosas (on loan from Barcelona) 22 DF  BRA Anderson 23 FW  CIV Kader Keïta 24 MF  FRA Romain Beynié 25 GK  FRA Joan Hartock 27 FW  FRA Anthony Mounier 28 MF  FRA Jérémy Toulalan 29 DF  FRA Sébastien Squillaci 30 GK  FRA Rémy Vercoutre 32 DF  FRA Jean-Alain Boumsong 33 DF  FRA Mickael Charvet 35 GK  FRA Frédéric Roux

Transfers

In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 5 MF  FRA Mathieu Bodmer (€6.5M from Lille[1]) 11 DF  ITA Fabio Grosso (€7M from Internazionale [2][3]) 21 DF  ALG Nadir Belhadj (loan return from Sedan) 22 DF  BRA Anderson (€4M from Benfica) 23 FW  CIV Kader Keïta (€18M from Lille[1])

No. Pos. Nation Player 35 GK  FRA Frédéric Roux (free agent from Ajaccio) 19 FW  ARG César Delgado (€10M from Cruz Azul) [4] 21 MF  ESP Marc Crosas (on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season) 32 DF  FRA Jean-Alain Boumsong (€3M from Juventus) -- MF  BRA Ederson (€15M from Nice, official in June 2008)

Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 5 DF  BRA Caçapa (Free transfer to Newcastle United) 10 MF  FRA Florent Malouda (€21M to Chelsea[5]) 15 MF  FRA Alou Diarra (€7.75M to Bordeaux[6]) 20 DF  FRA Eric Abidal (€15M to Barcelona[7]) 21 MF  POR Tiago (€13M to Juventus[8]) 23 DF  FRA Jérémy Berthod (€2M to Monaco[9])

No. Pos. Nation Player 38 FW  FRA Gregory Bettiol (€0.33M to Troyes) 39 DF  FRA Mourad Benhamida (Free transfer to Montpellier) -- GK  FRA Rémy Riou (€0.8M to Auxerre) 22 FW  FRA Sylvain Wiltord (€1.5M to Rennes) 21 DF  ALG Nadir Belhadj (€3.6M to Lens)

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 MF  BRA Fábio Santos (6 month loan to São Paulo) 7 FW  CZE Milan Baroš (6 month loan to Portsmouth) 12 FW  FRA Loïc Rémy (on loan to Lens until the end of the season) [10] 15 DF  FRA Sandy Paillot (on loan to Grenoble until the end of the season) [10]

Club

Management

Position	Staff
Manager	Alain Perrin
Assistant manager	Rémi Garde
Assistant manager	Christophe Galtier
Assistant manager	Bruno Genesio
Club doctor	Jean-Jacques Amprino
Goalkeeping coach	Joël Bats
Special Advisor	Bernard Lacombe

Last updated: 30 May 2007
Source: Olympique Lyonnais

Kit

Supplier: Umbro
Sponsor(s): Novotel (home), Ticket Restaurant (away), Renault Trucks (alternate)

Home

Away

Third/Euro Kit

Alternate Away

Source: OL Boutique

Other information

Chairman	Jean-Michel Aulas
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Stade Gerland (41,044 / 112x65 yards)

Source: Stade Gerland Profile

Competitions

Ligue 1

After a tough Ligue 1 season marred by injuries to key players, Lyon became champions for the seventh consecutive season holding off Bordeaux. They claimed the title after defeating Auxerre on the final day of the season.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lyon (C)	38	24	7	7	74	37	+37	79	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Bordeaux	38	22	9	7	65	38	+27	75
3	Marseille	38	17	11	10	58	45	+13	62	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
4	Nancy	38	15	15	8	44	30	+14	60	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
5	Saint-Étienne	38	16	10	12	47	34	+13	58

Source: French Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	24	7	7	74	37	+37	79	14	4	1	44	16	+28	10	3	6	30	21	+9

Last updated: May 17, 2008.
Source: Olympique Lyonnais Statistics

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	D	D	W	L	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	D	D	W	W

Updated to match(es) played on May 17, 2008. Source: Olympique Lyonnais Results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
5 August 2007	Auxerre	H	2 – 0	Baroš  33', Benzema  70'	35,537	3rd
11 August 2007	Toulouse	A	0 – 1		24,980	7th
18 August 2007	Lorient	A	1 – 2	Benzema  32'	14,612	8th
26 August 2007	Saint-Étienne	H	1 – 0	Benzema  54'	38,438	7th
29 August 2007	Sochaux	A	2 – 1	Benzema  20', Bodmer  57'	15,744	4th
1 September 2007	Le Mans	H	3 – 2	Govou  71', Benzema  76', Baroš  78'	35,042	2nd
15 September 2007	Metz	A	5 – 1	Benzema  4', 36', 38', Ben Arfa  58', Juninho  86'	21,988	1st
23 September 2007	Lille	H	1 – 1	Govou  58'	32,658	2nd
29 September 2007	Lens	H	3 – 0	Santos  42', Källström  81', Benzema  90'	38,420	4th
7 October 2007	Bordeaux	A	3 – 1	Anderson  5', Benzema  23', Källström  59'	31,919	2nd
20 October 2007	Monaco	H	3 – 1	Juninho  12' (pen.), Réveillère  18', Benzema  50'	36,254	1st
28 October 2007	Paris Saint-Germain	A	3 – 2	Ben Arfa  40', 43', Govou  84'	39,787	1st
3 November 2007	Valenciennes	H	2 – 0	Juninho  40', Govou  87'	38,631	1st
11 November 2007	Marseille	H	1 – 2	Juninho  7'	38,811	1st
24 November 2007	Rennes	A	2 – 0	Juninho  5' (pen.), Ben Arfa  18'	28,596	1st
2 December 2007	Strasbourg	H	5 – 0	Källström  13', 80' (pen.), Juninho  19', Benzema  64', Clerc  78'	34,595	1st
8 December 2007	Caen	A	0 – 1		20,664	1st
15 December 2007	Nice	H	0 – 0		37,280	1st
22 December 2007	Nancy	A	1 – 1	Baroš  80'	19,898	1st
12 January 2008	Toulouse	H	3 – 2	Ben Arfa  17', Juninho  56', Benzema  66'	36,587	1st
20 January 2008	Lens	A	0 – 3		32,734	1st
23 January 2008	Lorient	H	2 – 0	Ben Arfa  29', Benzema  74'	37,780	1st
27 January 2008	Saint-Étienne	A	1 – 1	Benzema  90'	31,537	1st
9 February 2008	Sochaux	H	4 – 1	Bodmer  2', 76', Govou  90', Benzema  90'	35,904	1st
16 February 2008	Le Mans	A	0 – 1		14,051	1st
23 February 2008	Metz	H	2 – 0	Fred  10', 69'	37,281	1st
1 March 2008	Lille	A	1 – 0	Fred  32'	77,840	1st
9 March 2008	Bordeaux	H	4 – 2	Bodmer  11', 24', Benzema  50', Keïta  90+3'	40,381	1st
15 March 2008	Monaco	A	3 – 0	Keïta  20', 38', Fred  35'	12,321	1st
23 March 2008	Paris Saint-Germain	H	4 – 2	Fred  8', 36', Govou  65', Juninho  72'	37,895	1st
30 March 2008	Valenciennes	A	2 – 1	Keïta  8', Govou  66'	15,313	1st
6 April 2008	Marseille	A	1 – 3	Cana  45' (o.g.)	56,271	1st
13 April 2008	Rennes	H	1 – 1	Cris  15'	39,900	1st
19 April 2008	Strasbourg	A	2 – 1	Bodmer  62', Grosso  68'	26,006	1st
26 April 2008	Caen	H	2 – 2	Benzema  33', 60'	39,068	1st
3 May 2008	Nice	A	0 – 0		14,206	1st
10 May 2008	Nancy	H	1 – 0	Macaluso  63' (o.g.)	38,190	1st
17 May 2008	AJ Auxerre	A	3 – 1	Benzema  1', Fred  10', Källström  53'	19,799	1st

UEFA Champions League

Lyon made their seventh-straight appearance in the UEFA Champions League. They were pitted in the so-called "group of death", which featured German champions VfB Stuttgart, Spanish giants Barcelona and Scottish giants Rangers. After two disappointing 0–3 losses to Barcelona at the Camp Nou and Rangers at home, Lyon rebounded picking up two important wins in their home-away series against Stuttgart. Following their 2–2 draw at home against Barcelona, Lyon faced a tough challenge as they needed to defeat Rangers at Ibrox in order to advance to the knockout stages. As Rangers only needed a draw, odds were against Lyon. However, after an early goal by Sidney Govou, Lyon ended Rangers hope with two late goals from Karim Benzema sending Lyon to the knockout stages for the fifth consecutive season.

Group E

Main article: 2007–08 UEFA Champions League group stage § Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Barcelona	6	4	2	0	12	3	+9	14	Advance to knockout stage
2	Lyon	6	3	1	2	11	10	+1	10
3	Rangers	6	2	1	3	7	9	−2	7	Transfer to UEFA Cup
4	Stuttgart	6	1	0	5	7	15	−8	3

Source:

Results by round

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Group position
19 September 2007	Barcelona	A	0 – 3		78,689	4th
2 October 2007	Rangers	H	0 – 3		38,076	4th
23 October 2007	VfB Stuttgart	A	2 – 0	Santos  55', Benzema  79'	51,000	3rd
7 November 2007	VfB Stuttgart	H	4 – 2	Ben Arfa  5', 37', Källström  15', Juninho  90'	38,215	3rd
27 November 2007	Barcelona	H	2 – 2	Juninho  7', 80' (pen.)	38,113	3rd
12 December 2007	Rangers	A	3 – 0	Govou  16', Benzema  85', 88'	50,260	2nd

First knockout round

Lyon were paired against English champions Manchester United in the Round of 16. After a 1–1 draw at home, Lyon failed to respond at Old Trafford, losing 0–1 on a Cristiano Ronaldo goal just before half-time.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
20 February 2008	First knockout round First leg	Manchester United	H	1 – 1	Benzema  54'	39,230
4 March 2008	First knockout round Second leg	Manchester United	A	0 – 1		75,521

Coupe de la Ligue

Lyon entered this year's Coupe de la Ligue as the defending runners-up after losing to Bordeaux in the 2007 final. Having made it to the Champions League, Lyon were given their annual bye into the first knockout round, where they defeated Caen 3–1. With that win, they were pitted against Le Mans in the quarter-finals. After an early goal by Le Mans midfielder Daisuke Matsui, Lyon could not break through their sturdy defence as they bowed out of the League Cup for the seventh-straight season, their last cup triumph being in 2001.

Results by round

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
31 October 2007	First Knockout Round	Caen	A	3 – 1	Keïta  14', Bodmer  76', Benzema  89'	16,336
16 January 2008	Quarter-Finals	Le Mans	A	0 – 1		7,934

Coupe de France

Lyon got their Coupe de France season off to a strong start defeating Championnat National side Créteil 4–0, with Karim Benzema picking up a hat-trick. This match was notable as it marked the return of Lyon goalkeeper Grégory Coupet who had been out for four months with a torn medial ligament.[11] Following their Round of 32 success, they were pitted against the surprising, yet upset-minded CFA side Croix de Savoie. After a hard-fought first half, it took an 80th-minute strike from Fred to pull Lyon through to the next round where they faced the defending champions Sochaux. Following an unimpressive first half from both clubs, Benzema opened the scoring for Lyon in the 56th minute. After holding the score at 1–0, Lyon failed to keep a clean sheet as Kandia Traoré equalised for Sochaux near the beginning of injury time. With extra time looming, Benzema again scored for Lyon to give them the victory and the right to move to the quarter-finals, where they faced relegation-bound Metz.

Metz, looking to create something special out of a disappointing league season, played very bravely as they tried to pull off a historic upset. Benzema, however, again scored for Lyon (his 28th of the season and sixth in the Coupe de France) to give them a 1–0 lead in the 39th minute. That would be the eventual scoreline as Lyon advanced to the semifinals where they faced Ligue 2 side Sedan. In one of the more entertaining matches of the cup, with both teams displaying their attacking prowess and both goalkeepers stepping up in times of need, it took one of Juninho's vintage free kicks to finally knock out the tough Ligue 2 side and thus book Lyon's place in the final at the Stade de France, where they faced rivals Paris Saint-Germain. The final was heavily contested and eventually headed into extra time. Lyon finally broke through with a goal from Sidney Govou. Lyon would hold on to that scoreline as they prevailed to capture their fourth Coupe de France title in their history and the first in the Jean-Michel Aulas era. For more information on the final, click below.

Coupe de France Final 2008

Results by round

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
6 January 2008	Round of 32	Créteil	A	4 – 0	Benzema  15', 38', 80' (pen.), Juninho  44'	10,640
3 February 2008	Round of 16	Croix de Savoie	A	1 – 0	Fred  80'	7,500
18 March 2008	First Knockout Round	Sochaux	H	2 – 1	Benzema  56', 90+1'	20,012
15 April 2008	Quarterfinals	FC Metz	H	1 – 0	Benzema  39'	27,015
7 May 2008	Semi-finals	CS Sedan	H	1 – 0	Juninho  88'	33,057
24 May 2008	Final	PSG	N	1 – 0	Govou  102'	79,204

Statistics

Last updated on 24 May 2008.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Ligue 1		Champions League		Coupe de la Ligue		Coupe de France
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Grégory Coupet	28	0	19	0	2	0	1	0	6	0
2	DF		François Clerc	40	1	21+7	1	4+3	0	0	0	5	0
3	DF		Cris	17	1	13	1	1	0	0	0	3	0
4	DF		Patrick Müller	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	MF		Mathieu Bodmer	51	7	30+8	6	2+3	0	2	1	6	0
6	MF		Kim Källström	54	6	29+9	5	7+1	1	2	0	6	0
8	MF		Juninho	47	13	30+3	8	8	3	2	0	4	2
9	FW		Fred	31	8	14+8	7	1+2	0	2	0	4	1
10	FW		Karim Benzema	52	31	33+4	20	7	4	2	1	6	6
11	DF		Fabio Grosso	44	1	31	1	7	0	1	0	5	0
14	FW		Sidney Govou	45	9	26+6	7	8	1	1	0	4	1
18	MF		Hatem Ben Arfa	43	8	18+13	6	5+3	2	1	0	3	0
19	FW		César Delgado	10	0	2+6	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
20	DF		Anthony Réveillère	40	1	22+6	1	6+1	0	2	0	3	0
21	MF		Marc Crosas	12	0	4+5	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
22	DF		Anderson	19	1	11+1	1	5	0	1	0	1	0
23	FW		Kader Keïta	41	5	19+11	4	0+6	0	1	1	4	0
24	MF		Romain Beynié	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	GK		Joan Hartock	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	FW		Anthony Mounier	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF		Jérémy Toulalan	41	0	30+1	0	5	0	1	0	4	0
29	DF		Sébastien Squillaci	50	0	35+1	0	8	0	2	0	4	0
30	GK		Rémy Vercoutre	26	0	19	0	6	0	1	0	0	0
32	DF		Jean-Alain Boumsong	13	0	8	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
33	DF		Mickael Charvet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	GK		Frédéric Roux	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

References

1. Foot - L1 - Lyon - Keïta et Bodmer ont signé Archived 2009-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
2. A world champion at OL
3. New Jersey (2014-04-23). "Ligue 1 - Lyon to sign Grosso". Eurosport.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
4. "Google Translate". Translate.google.com. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
5. "Malouda poised for Chelsea". Archived from the original on 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
6. Diarra destined for Bordeaux
7. ABIDAL transferred to Barcelona
8. TIAGO transferred to Juventus
9. Berthod keen to start anew at Monaco
10. Ligue de Football Professionnel : Transfer Window - the final moves
11. "Coupet out for four months after damaging knee ligament". Archived from the original on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2017-10-23.