History of Olympique Lyonnais

[2] Olympique Lyonnais enjoyed limited success in the 1960s, partly due to the play of strike force Fleury Di Nallo – known as "The Little Prince of Gerland" and arguably Lyon's greatest player ever – and the Argentine Néstor Combin.

The disappointing finish ultimately led to the departure of Jasseron, but his stint at the club is remembered as being largely positive by supporters and he is known for being the first Lyon manager to win the Coupe de France.

Along with the departure of Jasseron, Lyon also lost several prominent players, including Marcel Aubour, Jean Djorkaeff, Stéphane Bruey and Michel Margottin.

[3] The 1970s saw the arrival of Yugoslavian defender Ljubomir Mihajlović, commonly called "Loubo" in France, and also a changing of the guard with youth product Bernard Lacombe taking over as primary goalscorer from Di Nallo, who was now an aging veteran that left the team following the 1974–75 season.

Domenech, in an effort to increase competition in the squad, brought in several experienced players such as the Congolese striker Eugène Kabongo and François Lemasson, but also focused on the club's youth teaming the veterans with the likes of Bruno Ngotty and Pascal Fugier.

Following the 1992–93 Ligue 1 season, where Lyon again finished in the bottom half of the table, Domenech resigned his position and agreed to manage the France under-21 national team.

Tigana's arrival saw the club sign world-class players which included three-time African Footballer of the Year Abédi Pelé, who ultimately disappointed, Manuel Amoros and Pascal Olmeta.

Under the leadership of Ngotty and influential play of youngsters Florian Maurice and Franck Gava, Lyon finished in an impressive second place, ten points behind champions Nantes.

The inexperience showed on the field as Lyon finished in 11th position in the league, lost in the second round of the UEFA Cup to English club Nottingham Forest (1–0 on aggregate), and were eliminated in the early stages of the Coupe de France.

However, Stéphan again suffered bad luck losing his star striker Maurice for six months after the player ruptured his Achilles tendon following his return from the 1996 Summer Olympics.

With the arrival of new players Vikash Dhorasoo and Marco Grassi, Lyon got off to a great start in the league thrashing Toulouse 6–1 and defeating title contenders Marseille and Bordeaux both by a score of 2–1.

Following the 1998–99 season, Aulas made a big gamble signing the Brazilian international Sonny Anderson from Spanish giants Barcelona for a then-French record fee of €17 million.

Having already shored up the striker position with Sonny, Santini brought in Brazilians Edmílson and Caçapa and also captured Swiss international Patrick Müller in order to solidify the team's midfield and backline.

Santini also brought in the 2001 Player of the Year Eric Carrière and made the decision to increase the playing time of emerging youth product Sidney Govou.

Le Guen applied those policies to Lyon improving the club's training center, the Centre Tola Vologe, and signing youth players like Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Touré.

Facing mounting pressure from rivals Monaco and Marseille, Lyon went on a five-match unbeaten streak, effectively giving the club their second straight Ligue 1 title.

The club's celebrations were ecstatic having repeated, but later turned to tears as on 26 June 2003, Lyon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé suffered cardiac arrest while playing for the Cameroon national team at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Le Guen continued his policy bringing in young good talent signing Florent Malouda, Michael Essien and Anthony Réveillère from Guingamp, Bastia and Valencia respectively.

The club performed especially well in the newly revamped format of the UEFA Champions League reaching the knockout stages after winning their group, upending the German powerhouse Bayern Munich.

Going into the quarter-finals, Lyon were heavy favorites against Dutch club PSV, but were shockingly held to 1–1 draws in both legs and eventually bowed out on penalties, also penalized by a number of dubious decisions from match officials.

One of those victories included Lyon humbling Spanish giants Real Madrid 3–0 at the Gerland in front of a sold-out crowd in the club's opening group stage match of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League.

In need of a replacement, Aulas decided to bring in former Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin, who was coming off a monumental Coupe de France win the previous season with Sochaux.

Perrin also promoted the youngster Karim Benzema to the lead striker role and converted Hatem Ben Arfa into a left winger in order to relieve Malouda's departure.

In the final, Lyon faced Paris-Saint Germain and, despite, going through some difficult moments during the match against a side reputed to be cup competition specialists, escaped with a 1–0 (goal scored by Sidney Govou) win in extra-time.

[8] Though the trophies won spoke in Perrin's favour, his lack of grip on his players and coaching staff (there were news of clashes involving Hatem Ben Arfa, Joël Bats and Robert Duverne) cast doubt on his ability as a manager.

Perrin's credentials are further boosted by the several injuries to key players (Cris and Grégory Coupet) throughout the season and the fact that he was the first manager to place such a degree of trust in the talents of Karim Benzema, playing him as his central striker when previous coaches had often been using the attacker in wide positions.

[13] Before Puel's arrival as manager, Aulas made several transfers, which included bringing in Nice teammates Ederson and Hugo Lloris, Metz prodigy Miralem Pjanić, and Lille midfielder Jean Makoun.

The additions were later offset by the departure of veterans Sébastien Squillaci, Grégory Coupet, and Patrick Müller, as well as youngster Hatem Ben Arfa, who joined rivals Marseille.

Having endured a poor 2009–10 season which had culminated in a shambolic 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa, Gourcuff was expected to revive his career in Lyon.

However, unlike Lacombe, Puel had arrived at the club at a time when it was the top side in France and with millions spent on transfers such as Hugo Lloris, Ederson, John Mensah, Miralem Pjanić, Lisandro López, Bafétimbi Gomis, Michel Bastos, Aly Cissokho, Dejan Lovren and Yoann Gourcuff, he had a moral duty to bring home trophies, which he failed to do.