Olympique Lyonnais won 2-1 at Anderlecht on Wednesday night, but the opening Europa League victory also brought a quiet break with one of the club’s deepest traditions: for the first time in 118 European matches, Lyon began without a single academy graduate in the starting XI.
Lyon end 118-match academy run in Europe
Paulo Fonseca selected a heavily altered side in Brussels, and none of his starters had come through Lyon’s own youth system. It was the first such lineup in a European competition for OL since 2011, ending a sequence that had stretched across 15 years.
The run had lasted 118 consecutive continental fixtures, underlining the place long held by home-grown players in Lyon’s identity, even as squads and managers changed around them.
Fonseca may not have been aware of the record when naming his team at Anderlecht, but his selection made history as Lyon started their Europa League campaign with an away win.
The previous occasion came against Ajax
The last Lyon side to start a European game without a club-trained player dated back to November 2011. Rémi Garde’s team faced Frank de Boer’s Ajax in a Champions League group-stage match at Gerland, which ended 0-0.
Maxime Gonalons was unavailable that evening because of a calf problem, while Alexandre Lacazette began on the bench. Lacazette was introduced only late in the match, replacing Jimmy Briand.
Fourteen years on from that Ajax draw, Lyon have finally seen that rare scenario return. This time, however, it arrived alongside three points and a 2-1 result in Anderlecht.
SEO Title: Lyon’s 118-Match European Academy Record Ends at Anderlecht
SEO Description: Lyon started their 2-1 Europa League win at Anderlecht without an academy graduate, ending a 118-match European run dating back to 2011.
