'We wanted to play' - Lyon angry at seeing Marseille game postponed after team bus is smashed by rocks and manager Fabio Grosso left bleeding

Lyon owner John Textor claimed that the squad decided to play the game against Marseille despite their team bus being attacked.

WHAT HAPPENED? The Lyon team bus was subject to an attack by opposition fans while they were on their way to Stade Velodrome where they were scheduled to face rivals Marseille in a Ligue 1 clash. A section of the home fans gave their rivals a raucous welcome with projectiles launched at the bus that was carrying the team. Along with some members of the staff, manager Fabio Grosso suffered injuries. The former Italian international was left with a 3cm cut on his face after being struck by shards of glass from the windows that were broken by flying rocks.

While referee François Letexier soon conducted a press conference to confirm that the match has been called off after discussions with all parties, Lyon owner John Textor later claimed that the decision to call off the game was unanimously taken by the match officials and that Les Gones wanted to play the game despite the attack.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking to Amazon Prime Video, the club president said, «No [ we didn’t ask to cancel the match]. Very quickly after it happened, we had a team meeting […] our team decided they would play. They wanted to play, they were ready to play. I’m very proud of the captain wanting to do that. The decision was made independently of us […] We wanted to play football. We’re angry.»

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Grosso was immediately taken to hospital for medical attention. He was left with a plaster above his eye and a bandage wrapped around his head.

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WHAT NEXT? Marseille will be next seen in action against Lille on November 4 while Lyon are set to take on Metz the day after in the Ligue 1.