Ligue 1 Review | Endrick sets Lyon’s Champions League chase alight  | OneFootball

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Endrick said of his decision to join Olympique Lyonnais on a six-month loan from Real Madrid. “Life is like that. My life has always been difficult. It’s never been easy,” he told reporters following Lyon’s 5-2 win over FC Metz on Sunday. Looking at his time in France so far, you’d be hard-pressed to agree. The 19-year-old has certainly made it look easy. 

It took him only 42 minutes on his debut in the Coupe de France to score, netting the winner in the 2-1 victory over Lille OSC. Since then, he has assisted his countryman Abner Vinícius during the 2-1 win against Stade Brestois, before he scored his first career hat-trick in yesterday’s demolition of FC Metz. In just three games, Endrick has left his impression on a club captivated by his talent. 

As the Lyon head coach Paulo Fonseca said after Sunday’s game, “He’s a different kind of striker. I’ve said several times that we lacked initiative, depth… Now, with him, we have it. He makes a difference on his own, but he’s also very comfortable within the team. We mustn’t forget that he barely played this season. So he’ll improve physically and continue to progress.” 

Endrick adds new dimension

Endrick’s added an extra dimension to a side that has refound their early-season rhythm and will be looking to extend their winning run to nine games in a row on Thursday when they play PAOK FC in the UEFA Europa League. A match that they will have to play without Endrick, as the striker is currently ineligible to take part in their European campaign. 

Lyon have faced criticism this season for at times looking toothless. The sale of Georges Mikautadze to Villarreal did not help matters, and his replacement, Martín Satriano, was not up to the task. The striker scored only three times in 19 appearances across all competitions, and has since been allowed to leave on loan to Getafe, after it was made clear that game time would be limited in the second half of the season. 

It feels as if Endrick’s arrival has addressed that criticism already. He’s shown in just three games a diverse skillset, from a poacher’s instinct at the backpost against Lille to his medley of goals against Metz: a delicate dink, a burst of pace to break free past the defensive line, and a well-taken penalty. The teenager opens up possibilities that were previously not there, and is fanning the belief that Lyon could end a six-year hiatus from the UEFA Champions League. 

Lyon prepare Champions League charge?

Lyon sit fourth in the table with a four-point cushion above Lille in fifth after the weekend results. It’s a position that would currently give them access to the third qualifying round of next season’s Champions League, but they will have their sights on the positions above them and automatic qualification coming into the final 15 games of the season, with Olympique de Marseille only two points ahead in third. 

Endrick, who arrived only on a short-term loan, looking for game time ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, may well prove to be the player to make the difference in the race for Champions League football. And if he leaves in the summer, having provided Lyon with that achievement and all its financial remuneration, then his six months will end up being pivotal for the future of a club still struggling with the financial burdens that saw them on the precipice of relegation over the summer. 

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

GFFN | Nick Hartland