From Champions League semi-finalists to a relegation battle: What is going wrong at Lyon?

Rewind to the 19th of August 2020 and Lyon are just about to play in their first Champions League semi-final for 10 years after knocking out Juventus and Manchester City to reach the final four. OL would eventually lose to the same team that knocked them out of the competition in 2010, Bayern Munich, but were still flirting with Europe’s elite on the biggest stage. 

Fast forward to today, Lyon sit second-from-bottom of the Ligue 1 table with three points from eight games, and instead of flirting with Europe’s elite, they are flirting dangerously with relegation. So, what actually is going wrong at the Groupama Stadium? 

John Textor was announced as Lyon’s new majority shareholder in December 2022, and it was the first time since 1987 that Jean-Michel Aulas had relinquished any control of the club. The relationship between Lyon’s new owner and heralded custodian for the past 36 years looked rosy at the pair’s first press conference. However, things would soon sour. 

Upon his arrival, Textor confirmed that Aulas would remain in place as the club’s president. This would last for less than six months with Aulas stepping down on the 8th of May 2023, but being named “honorary president.” Lyon’s “honorary president” has since launched legal proceedings against Textor and has been outspoken on the American’s impact on the club’s demise. 

This has led to a rather fractious and public spat between the pair developing in the French media. Since stepping down as OL president, Aulas has criticised Textor on multiple occasions for developments since his departure, such as the DNCG restrictions, saying “I was never troubled by the DNCG. I have never had any problem with them in 35 years as president. Up until now, the DNCG has always