Bruno Guimaraes, Olympic gold for Olympique Lyonnais
What if he was the boss? Bruno Guimaraes shone in the match against PSG, delivering the assist on Lucas Paqueta’s goal. It will be one of the key pieces against Troyes this Sunday. The Brazilian international has everything to become the boss of a team that wants to get back to the top in this second part of the championship.
Left behind in Ligue 1 (eleventh) and far from its ambitions, Lyon, which plays Sunday in Troyes during the 21st day (5:05 p.m.), is counting in particular on its Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes to return to the top of the table. At the Aube stadium, OL will build on the positive points of their match against Paris SG (1-1) on Sunday to return to victory, which they have not tasted since November 28 in Montpellier. (1-0). Against PSG, the Lyonnais opened the scoring with a goal from Lucas Paqueta, well served by a through pass from Guimaraes, one of the Rhone club’s rare satisfactions in the first half of the season. Beyond his contribution to the game, the midfielder delivered four assists.
SELECTED WITH BRAZIL
he arrived in Lyon in January 2020 from Athletico Paranaense (Brazilian club) for a transfer of twenty million euros. The sports director of Olympique Lyonnais, Juninho, was then decisive in tipping the balance in favor of Lyon, which was facing competition from Atletico Madrid at the time. But the former OL icon quit his job in December and Guimaraes’ performances, like Paqueta, make them targets for Europe’s top sides more than ever.
Arsenal Newcastle or Everton in England, AC Milan, AS Roma or Juventus in Italy are in the running. Guimaraes (24) does not seem to be lacking in requests for the future, but, above all, does not seem in a hurry to extend his contract which runs until June 30, 2024.
Especially if OL failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of the season. Especially since the two players would represent an important value in terms of transfer. « It’s normal to be called upon when you are an Olympic champion, called up for selection and performing individually« , Bruno Guimaraes recently replied to the Brazilian website Globo Esporte. « I don’t like to think about it too much and I let my agents handle it“, he also said.
PUT LYON IN ITS PLACE
« We had talked about an extension with Juninho when he was still at the club. There is a change in management. When the time comes, we’ll talk about it. The urgency is rather to bring the team up in the standings and put Lyon in its place« , insisted the Auriverde midfielder. He played all Lyon’s Ligue 1 matches except for the one against Brest (1-1) on the first day.
« The club has never won the Europa League and we will fight to win it. », added Bruno Guimaraes about the C3, where the club finished first in its group. To achieve this, it will probably be necessary to display other values, in particular concentration. Against PSG, once again, OL opened the scoring before being beaten back in the last quarter of an hour. On 75 minutes, Lyon is leader of the classification but lost eleven points in the last fifteen minutes. « We lost a lot of points stupidly, at the end of the game« , admits the Olympic champion. « But we are not going to make the same mistakes again. We talked about it a lot. We have worked a lot on the video and we are going to put Lyon back at the top of the rankings« , he affirmed, always to Globo Esporte.
The match at Troyes, which has just changed coach, Bruno Irles having replaced Laurent Batlles, will already be a first revealer for the Lyonnais on their ability to get off to a good start in 2022.
