Jean-Luc Boujon // Photo credit: OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
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9:28 a.m., November 5, 2023
He had not led a training session since the stone attack on the Lyon bus in Marseille. Fabio Grosso made his return on Friday to the edge of the field, among his players. He conducted the entire session without any problem and then appeared before the press with a coquard still visible and a cap hiding his 12 stitches above his eye.
Fabio Grosso said he was doing better and is now waiting for the authorities to take the right measures to avoid this type of incident. He has the feeling that what happened in Marseille could unite a group and a team that is in bad shape in the championship and a few hours before a crucial match at Groupama Stadium against Metz, another poorly ranked team.
“I felt a great cohesion between them”
What if the incidents in Marseille and the injuries suffered by coach Fabio Grosso had the effect of resuscitating the Lyon team? The arrival of the Italian technician in mid-September did not have the expected effect on the team’s results.
Worse, observers described a locker room undermined by clan wars and players increasingly distrusting a coach losing his nerve and busy looking for the mole who informed the journalists. Today it all seems forgotten. Grosso saw a united group in training.
“I felt great cohesion between them, a great state of mind to show that we have great qualities, to show that we have great team spirit,” explains the coach. Same speech of unity from goalkeeper Antony Lopes.
Next goal: win against Metz
“I think it strengthened the bonds. I felt a group behind the coach who wanted to use everything that happened on Sunday to try to translate it into something positive, in terms of result sporty”, testifies the OL goalkeeper.
The sacred union is therefore decreed in Lyon. With a very first objective: to win against Metz this Sunday at 1 p.m., which would be Lyon’s first success in the league in six months.