Zachary Athekame in contention for Champions League play-off at Fenerbahçe, Mads Bidstrup could join | OneFootball

OL visit Fenerbahçe on Tuesday in the Champions League play-off first leg, with Zachary Athekame in contention and Mads Bidstrup a possibility, according to L'Équipe.

Paulo Fonseca's squad train for the last time at the Groupama OL training centre on Monday at 10:00, then lunch and fly to Istanbul, Türkiye early afternoon. He will hold a pre-match press conference at 20:30 at the Sükrü Saracoglu, with kick-off on Tuesday at 21:00.

Athekame's loan from AC Milan was announced on Friday. Because OL's wage bill is under DNCG oversight, registering new signings with the LFP has been delayed, so the Swiss full-back was not on the 25-man list sent to UEFA on Thursday.

Lyon invoked article 31.10 of UEFA's Champions League rules, which lets play-off clubs add up to two List A players after the deadline if homegrown quotas are met, provided they file by 23:59 the day before and national eligibility is confirmed. Athekame was added at the weekend and UEFA is expected to validate this on Monday.

Earlier recruit Felix Bacher was named in the initial list in place of Orel Mangala, who has joined Getafe on loan, and the Austrian defender will travel. Bidstrup, signed from Salzburg for €10m this summer, had a knee issue, returned to full training three days ago and is pain-free, so he could board the plane if Monday morning's session goes well. Pavel Sulc, also recovering from a knee problem, will not rejoin the group until Thursday.

Source: L'Équipe

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