Nouveau Renaissance for French Clubs?

The quarterfinal draw for the Champions League has drawn some familiar foes together. Last year’s victors FC Barcelona will face Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in a repeat of the 2006 final. In another repeat of a past final beaten finalists Manchester United will play the side they completed their historic treble of 1999 over, Bayern München.

Most of the hype will surround these fixtures as well as that of the pragmatic Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, who will face Russia’s “Army Men”, CSKA Moscow. One of the overlooked aspects of this draw was the pairing of two French sides, Olympique Lyonnais with Girondins de Bordeaux. This quarter final, between the true dominating force of French football of the past decade and pretenders to their crown will guarantee a French side in the semifinal of UEFA’s premier club competition for the first time.

Lyon, winners of seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles between 2001 and 2008 before Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux usurped their supremacy last season. The loss of the title they so securely controlled for so long sparked comprehensive restructuring of their squad. Young French internationals were bought such as prodigious goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, while naive players with notions of international stardom Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa were sold to the nouvea-Galacticos at Real Madrid and Marseille??? respectively. 

This renaissance instigated by club president Aulas and manager Claude Puel has proven quite successful in Europe, where traditional powers Real Madrid and Liverpool have fallen victims of Les Gones. Aulas has been outspoken in his desire of a French conquest of the Champions League spearheaded by his Lyons. This season’s exploits will have certainly pleased him but their relative failure domestically has seen them unable to compete with their rivals in wine country.

Bordeaux, worthy winners of last season’s Ligue 1, have been almost as impressive this season. Laurent Blanc, manager since 2008/2007???, has created a side with wonderful attacking options and flair. Much like his idol Zinedine Zidane, starlet Yoann Gourcuff is the  creative influence of all Bordeaux. His grand creativity supplemented by an admirable workrate rare with players of similar role. The three years he spent as understudy to Kaká at AC Milan have not suppressed his confidence and his captivating performance against Sevilla in the Round of 16 second leg has led to the belief that he is close to his best following a recovery from a severe ankle injury. 

Blanc’s ability to harness the ingenuity of Gourcuff within the the framework of a very effective side has not gone unnoticed. Within the past year he has been linked with numerous positions including those at his old clubs and fellow quarterfinalists Inter Milan and Manchester United as well as that of the French national side should Raymond Domenech finally succumb to the pressure of an impatient public.

The quarterfinal between these teams could be seen as a renaissance of sorts for French domestic football, long in the shadows since Marseille were the last side to win the competition at the outset of the 1990s. While Bordeaux have proved superior to their counterparts in league, Lyons are well versed in Champions League football and this experience could see them triumph. 

With one of the two sides guaranteed to progress to a semi final encounter, most likely with Manchester United, there will be little thought of a final berth for either team. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that European football may be reverting to an environment where it is not just the top four sides of English football and Barcelona competing for the ultimate prize in club football.