OL chase Champions League, ASSE eye promotion as OL Lyonnes target Europe | OneFootball

Le Progres reports that Rhône, Loire, Ain and Haute-Loire will be represented across football’s top three tiers, rugby’s top two and the basketball elite. The focus now turns to the ambitions of the region’s leading clubs.

OL opened their season in the Champions League third qualifying round, the first French professional club to kick off. A 2-1 first-leg defeat at Sparta Prague has complicated matters, yet a return to Europe’s top competition remains a key objective in the current financial context.

Michael Gerlinger said last season that a club of OL’s stature should always be in Europe and that they hoped to return to the Champions League. The aim spans this summer and Ligue 1, ideally a podium rather than fourth for direct qualification.

ASSE face a second successive Ligue 2 campaign after their play-off loss to Nice. Le Chaudron has set a season-ticket record and will hope for a swift return to the elite. Ian Cathro, a 40-year-old Scot from Estoril, is the new head coach.

Huss Fahmy, vice president of Kilmer Sports Ventures, accepted that the league is tough but said the target is Ligue 1. The campaign begins on Saturday at Sochaux.

In the women’s game, ASSE féminine share the same goal, to bounce back to the top flight after last-day relegation. Coach Yannick Chandioux stays on and believes in promotion and an ambitious rebuild in the window.

For the OL Lyonnes, ambitions are European. The eight-time champions again want to win every competition they enter, with particular focus on the Champions League, last lifted in 2022.

Source: Le Progres

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”