Lyon begin ‘new adventure’ after moving home + Ligue 1 kick-off times UAE

Workers walk inside the Lyon football club's new stadium, Grand Stade de Lyon, on Thursday. Philippe Desmazes / AFP

Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons has urged his teammates to embrace their “new adventure” as they begin life at Parc OL against the worst team in Ligue 1.

After 65 years at Stade Gerland, the club have moved home, to a 48,865-capacity arena that cost €455 million (Dh1.82 billion) and will stage matches at Euro 2016 in the summer.

And following five defeats in their last six league games before Christmas, Lyon must be careful not to spend too long admiring the new environment against winless Troyes on Saturday as they bid to revitalise their push for a Uefa Champions League place.

Lyon have slipped to ninth place but they trail Monaco, in second position, by only six points at the halfway stage of the season.

A top-three finish is eminently achievable, providing Lyon make a strong start to 2016.

They begin the year with a new coach, after former Lyon player Bruno Genesio was on Christmas Eve appointed until the end of the season, in succession to the under-achieving Hubert Fournier.

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Gonalons said: “The league is very important for us. We have to start well. There have been a number of changes. The directors asked a lot of questions before the winter break, and the club reflected on the situation.

“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to continue with the former coach. We didn’t do all we needed to do to win matches.”

A fresh start in Parc OL could be key to reviving Lyon’s season, and Gonalons added, according to his club’s website: “We’re going to begin a new adventure. We’re going to change our environment.

“We had this match in our heads. We didn’t finish well at Gerland. That’s gone. We’re going to try to start well in our adventure at Parc OL against a team who haven’t won yet. We need a result.”

While Lyon aim to close the gap, Monaco will be aiming to strengthen their standing in second position, and the recruitment this week of former France midfielder Claude Makelele as technical director indicated their ambition.

They tackle a Gazelec Ajaccio side who made great strides from late October, winning six games in a nine-game unbeaten league run that hoisted them from the foot of the table into the relative safety of 12th place.

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said in his pre-match press conference, according to the club’s website: “We will need to be at 100 per cent to beat Ajaccio who have improved a lot since we played them earlier in the season.”

A 1-0 win for Monaco in Corsica in September came while the league newcomers were struggling to adapt to life in the top flight.

“They needed a period to adapt in Ligue 1,” Jardim said. “They are now a very strong team.”

Runaway leaders Paris St Germain were in Friday night action against Bastia, while Saturday’s other games see Angers play Caen - an unlikely third-versus-fourth battle - while Montpellier face Bordeaux, Reims tackle Toulouse and Rennes line up against Lorient.

On Sunday, mid-table Marseille play Guingamp, Nice head north to Lille, and Nantes have home advantage against St Etienne.

Ligue 1 fixtures (in UAE time)

Saturday

Lyon v Troyes, 8pm

Angers v Caen, 11pm

Monaco v Ajaccio, 11pm

Montpellier v Bordeaux, 11pm

Rennes v Lorient, 11pm

Reims v Toulouse, 11pm

Sunday

Nantes v St Etienne, 5pm

Lille v Nice, 8pm

Marseille v Guingamp, midnight

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