Le Championnat is the 1st major European League to kick off this weekend with 6-time champions Lyon, kicking off their quest for a 7th consecutive French League title against Auxerre on Sunday.

To say that Olympique Lyon has had the lion-share of French titles would be an understatement, but this term may be the best chance for a slip with so many changes occurring at the club.

Gone are midfielders Florent Malouda (to Chelsea) and Alou Diarra (to Bordeaux), and number 1 keeper, Gregory Coupet is said to be out for months after a pre-season injury.

But constant marksman, Sylvain Wiltord and Sidney Govou will still lead the crew, and the addition of Italian World Cup Champion, Fabio Grosso for defensive cover looks interesting.

After winning two titles in succession, ex-Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier has also left the club and has been replaced by Alain Perrin, who last year managed FC Sochaux to a French Cup final victory over his new club.

It seems, however, that no matter who is at the helm, this club keeps winning. Perrin, with 1 trophy already under his belt (OL’s Asian pre-season Peace Cup trophy in South Korea), has also steered Lyon past his old club for a 2nd in the pre-league Champions’ Trophy fixture which sees the French League Champions from last season meet up with the French Cup Champions.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Soccer World, France. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.