Lyon return to north London looking to claim the Emirates Cup for the second time in their history, following on from their 2019 triumph, but how much do you know about our opponents?
Lyon have a glittering past, and will be hoping that a resurgence last season has seen them turn the corner as they look to challenge Paris St Germain's dominance of French football.
Here is our guide to our opponents:
The history
Olympique Lyonnais was founded in 1950, and quickly established themselves in the top tier of French football. They were a strong cup team in the 1960s and 1970s, reaching the Coupe de France final six times and claiming the silverware on three occasions.
Following the turn of the millennium, they rose to prominence in France, winning Ligue 1 for a record seven consecutive seasons between 2001/02 to 2007/08, developing the likes of Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Sidney Govou, Juninho, Eric Abidal and Karim Benzema in the process. During that time they also lifted another Coupe de France and a Coupe de la Ligue, and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League three times.
Since then they have gone a step further to the last four on two further occasions, the last of which was in 2019/20, but they failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 24 years at the end of that season. Paris St Germain’s dominance of domestic football has seen the silverware dry up, with the 2020 success in the Couple de la Ligue their last triumph.
THE STADIUM
After leaving their Stade de Gerland home of 65 years, Lyon moved into the Groupama Stadium in 2016. With a capacity of 59,186, it is third-largest stadium in France and was built for Euro 2016 where it hosted five matches, including Wales' semi-final defeat to Portugal.
It also hosted the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final when the USA were successful, as well as Atletico Madrid's 3-0 Europa League final success over Marseille. It has recently been hosting football matches at the Olympics, and earlier this year it was used as a venue for one of France's Six Nations rugby matches after hosting five 2023 Rugby World Cup games.
The manager
Pierre Sage is Lyon's fifth manager in the five years since they last appeared at the Emirates Cup. His playing days amounted to amateur football until the age of 26, before he started in roles including scouting and being a technical director, and then came a short 13-game stint as manager of Chambery in 2013.
After more backroom roles, he first pitched up at Lyon in 2019 as youth coach, and after moving to Red Star Belgrade as assistant manager, he returned to the south of France last summer to run the academy. However after a poor start to the campaign he was parachuted in as caretaker boss after Fabio Grosso was sacked, and guided them to a Europa League place after a fine run of form to get the job permanently.
LAST SEASON
A season of upheaval saw Laurent Blanc sacked after winning one point from his four games in charge, and then new owner John Textor dismissed Grosso after just seven games in charge with Lyon sitting bottom of the table with just seven points.
Sage held the fort as caretaker from December onwards and soon began picking up the wins, with 15 from the final 22 games seeing them finish in sixth position and earn a Europa League berth this season. He nearly also brought silverware back to the club but were beaten 2-1 by PSG in the French Cup final, and was rewarded with a long-term deal.
The squad
Two Lyon players would be instantly recognisable to Gooners. Alexandre Lacazette rejoined the club following his departure from north London in 2022, and he has netted 53 times in 74 games since to become one of Ligue 1's deadliest finishers. However, he is unavailable as he is at the Olympics with France, alongside promising winger Rayan Cherki, defensive midfielder Johann Lepenant and goalkeeper Lassine Diarra.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is available though, and he played 29 times and scored twice in his first season in France last term. A host of other former Premier League players ply their trade at the Groupama Stadium, including Dejan Lovren, Nemanja Matic and Said Benrahma, who made his loan switch from West Ham United permanent this summer.
Nicolas Tagliafico started Argentina's 2022 World Cup triumph and remains a mainstay of the national side, while goalkeeper Anthony Lopes was a member of Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning squad. Maxence Caqueret and 28-time capped Frenchman Corentin Tolisso impressed in midfield last term.
summer so far
Backed by Textor, Lyon have splashed the cash this summer with £115 million being spent so far. £47 million of that has gone to Nottingham Forest to capture Senegalese defender Moussa Niakhate and Orel Mangala, who was on loan last season. Benrahma, Ernest Nuamah and Mame Balde also saw their loan switches made permanent, while Southampton's Duje Caleta-Car also swapped England for France.
Georgian striker Georges Mikautadze has been snapped up after netting 13 goals in 20 league games for Metz, while Brazilian left-back Abner Vinicius has also been acquired, however Republic of Ireland centre-back Jake O'Brien has joined Everton. Five friendlies have been played so far, with wins against Chassieu Decines, WSG Tirol and Union Berlin recorded in that time.
The previous meetings
We have faced OL twice in competitive action, which came back in the 2000/01 season in the Champions League second group stage. A Thierry Henry goal away from home gave us a 1-0 victory, while Dennis Bergkamp was on target in a 1-1 draw the following week at Highbury.
Lyon have also provided opposition twice at the Emirates Cup - in 2015 we thrashed them 6-0 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, but in 2019 they collected the trophy after beating us 2-1, when Moussa Dembele netted twice.
Our last clash came during the 2022 World Cup break when we played in the Dubai Super Cup when we won 3-0 thanks to goals from Gabriel, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira.
How to watch
Tickets for this fixture are sold out, but you can still catch all the action live on our channels by purchasing a Match Pass for just £4.99 - but be quick as the price will increase on matchday.
Coverage starts at 1.30pm, with our build-up show getting you ready for the 13th staging of the Emirates Cup, as we look to retain the silverware for the third year in a row.
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