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February half term and time for another city break centred around the Europa League draw. And with many of the cities already visited, or in the far east (Russia), it came down to Lyon or (AEK) Athens. Ancient Greek or Roman ruins? Well, Lyon was closer, so off we went. I still wonder whether the Parthenon is still covered in scaffolding, as it was 20+ years ago on my previous visit, but I’ll give them a bit longer to get it sorted…
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| The exterior of the Groupama Stadium. |
Lyon’s new stadium was built for Euro 2016, though Olympique had long held ambitions to expand from their homely Stade de Gerland. I think I read the new stadium cost €500m, of which €180m was for transport infrastructure. So the least I would expect is an architecturally noted stadium and a certain ease of access. What I got was one of the ugliest stadia I’ve ever seen, and a return journey which took over two hours to get to our hotel, centrally located near the railway station at Perrache.
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| Like you, beautiful on the inside. |
It’s difficult to describe what the Groupama Stadium looks like, other than an aberration. It’s a horror. It looks like a cross between an office block and a factory, with a roof that’s been dumped on it at crazy angles. It’s awful. (Thankfully, the inside is superb; two tiers of seats, all enclosed, great views.) Then there is the transport. Tonight was a midweek game with 46,000 spectators, and queues for the metro were reminiscent of the worst of the Boleyn Ground, or the Amex. Only here, trains threatened to stop running within 40 mins of full time. How we’d have got back otherwise, I’m not sure.
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| What it looks like in daylight. On a postcard. |
Naturally, they’ve built the new stadium miles out of town. Handy for the airport, for when Manchester United et al visit, and handy for those whose cars fill the myriad carparks between the nearby motorway and stadium. What about folk who support OL, live in Lyon and don’t own a car? Tough. It’s a far cry from their old Stade de Gerland, easily accessible from the city centre. Still, at least match tickets were easily procured, upstairs in the club shop in town, next to Place Bellecour.
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| The concourse. Cheerless. |
Having made the trip out to the stadium, OL make the effort once you get there. Pre-match, the music goes up a notch, the lights go down and lazers criss-cross the stadium. Spectacular, and with a black sky, you almost feel like you’re indoors. It’s a tasty looking fixture too: Lyon, 3rd in the French league, against Villarreal, 5th in Spain. I am hoping for an entertaining match and it doesn’t disappoint. Both sides played an open game and looked to score. Half time could have seen it twos-apiece, the highlight being Villarreal having a thunderous volley direct from a corner parried away.
We arrived at half time goalless, but it didn’t remain that for long, as OL took the lead in the opening minute of the second half, a corner being headed back over the keeper for a simple nod in at the back post. Three minutes later, Villarreal had undone all of their good work of the opening half by going two down, the rebound being picked off after a great run and shot was saved. A lightning re-start and reward for those not dawdling under the stands at half time.
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| The teams line up before kick-off. |
I rather fancied Villarreal weren’t out of it yet though, and they pulled one back when Pablo Fornals was played in and he appeared to shoot THROUGH the keeper, the momentum of the shot just about carrying it over the line before a defender cleared just too late. However, the best was saved to last, as former £25m Man U misfit Memphis Depay came on, showboated, looked a class above anything else on the pitch, and duly ran onto a loose ball and despatched a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner without breaking stride. Pure class. And I would have over two hours to muse on it as I made my way home.
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| Villarreal get set for a corner. |
The Damage (for 2):
€20 Ent (x2)
€3.50 coca-cola
€2.50 water
free programme/newspaper
= €46
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| Groupama Stadium panorama. |
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| The lights go down, ready for the gladiators' entrance. |
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| A place for everything, and everything in its place. |
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| The 'smaller' ultras. |
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| Them widening gangways, like wot the Stade du France has. |
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| A corner of emptiness. |
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| Novel safety barriers. |
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| The ultras hoist their scarves. |
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| Home time. |
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| The A4 match ticket. |
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