Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has warned coach Hubert Fournier that Saturday’s Trophee des Champions against Paris St Germain is anything but a friendly.
Fournier, along with several members of his coaching staff, signed new contracts last week as reward for a second-placed finish in Ligue 1 which secured Champions League football.
But after a dismal showing in Arsenal’s Emirates Cup tournament continued a poor pre-season, Aulas questioned the extended holidays granted by Fournier to some of the club’s star players.
Lyon lost to Sion and PSV Eindhoven at the Valais Cup and to Arsenal and Villarreal in north London, including a 6-0 hammering by their hosts.
They failed to score in any of those four games and despite an intervening 2-1 win over Milan, with goals from the highly-rated double-act of Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fekir, Aulas is concerned ahead of the season curtain-raiser.
“I am okay, but I want to understand,” the outspoken club official told Le Progres.
“The first two matches at the Valais Cup were not indicative because we did not have our regular team, but nevertheless I regret not having the internationals back sooner. They had already had four weeks’ holiday!
“The Arsenal game was worrying, for sure. That does not make you happy when you are in the stand.
“I didn’t sleep that night. It reminded me of Brazil-Germany, 1-7. It was incredible, even though we were in the game until Clement Grenier’s injury.
“The second Emirates Cup match against Villarreal, I do not want to say anything.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s showpiece occasion, which this year will take place in Montreal, he continued: “I will just say I am placing a lot of importance on the Trophee des Champions.
“We will see against PSG whether Hubert Fournier has made a mistake or not, whether he did the right thing or not giving the internationals an extra week off.”
Aulas will not be at the game in Canada, however, having failed in an attempt to have Fekir’s one-match suspension annulled to allow him to take Grenier’s place in the game.
Asked about his hopes for the match, he said: “The bar will be high against PSG.
“I will follow this game but I will not be in Montreal. I am sulking. I asked the president of PSG, Nasser Al Khelafi, that Nabil Fekir be allowed to play for the sake of the spectacle, for football. And he said no.”