If OL has solidified its third place in the Ligue 1 standings after a victory (not without fright) against Auxerre this Saturday (3-2), the Champions League goal has not yet been reached. Corentin Tolisso preferred to calm things down in front of the press, reminding that the ranking is very tight for the European places.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This seems to be the watchword in the Lyon dressing room before the last three matches of the season. “The Champions League? It’s close and it’s far,” said Lyon midfielder and captain Corentin Tolisso after OL’s victory against Auxerre (3-2) in the 31st round of Ligue 1.
This is the third consecutive success for Lyon after those obtained against Lorient (2-0) and Paris Saint-Germain (2-1). “The Champions League? It’s close and far too. There are three matches left. That’s a lot. A lot can happen,” estimated Tolisso.
“We saw it. We didn’t win for nine matches and now we have won three in a row. In the end, we find ourselves in third place. A lot can still happen. I say first of all we need to qualify for the Europa League. If we succeed, then we will see what we can achieve,” he continued.
“We were determined to validate the result in Paris even if it wasn’t easy. All matches will be very tough until the end of the season,” the Lyon captain said. “Now we can look more calmly at the matches coming up this weekend. We did the job,” he added.
The importance of goal difference
“It’s the final sprint, the end of seasons are always very intense. Experienced players like Moussa (Niakhaté), Clinton (Mata) or myself, have to bring calm to the group,” he estimated. Nonetheless, he was “annoyed that OL conceded a second goal” against Auxerre, reminding that “all goals were important”.
Lille, temporarily in 4th place three points behind Lyon in 3rd currently, with an additional match to play, against Paris FC on Sunday, have a goal difference of +15 against +16 for Lyon. This is the first regulatory criterion to separate two teams tied before the number of points in matches between them. On this second point, OL is superior to LOSC (two wins 1-0).
