Olympique Lyonnais got their 2025-26 Ligue 1 campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory away at Lens. Georgia international striker Georges Mikautadze scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time at the end of the first half to take the three points back to Lyon.
After a turbulent summer when the future of the club was plunged into doubt by a provisional relegation to Ligue 2 that was eventually overturned on appeal, it was a relief to finally get back to the football. It was a new look Lyon squad, with a multitude of regular starters having departed to pastures new since they rounded off the previous campaign with a 2-0 win over Angers.
Five of the starting line-up from that match have since moved on (Perri, Almada, Cherki, Veretout and Lacazette) and a sixth, Nicolás Tagliafico, wasn’t fit enough to start having left and only recently re-signed for the club. Another player who featured as a substitute in that match, Nemanja Matic, parted ways with Lyon just days before the trip to Lens.
However, there has been an influx of new signings to counterbalance the exodus and the squad has consequently been freshened up with a host of younger, up-and-coming players on lower salaries. Large scale cost cutting was a necessity, but some shrewd purchases allowed a glimmer of optimism on the eve of the new season.
In the event, enough of last season’s squad remained in situ for there to be just a single debutant in the starting XI at Lens. Tyler Morton, signed from Liverpool, lined up in the centre of midfield alongside Tanner Tessmann and the experienced club captain Corentin Tolisso. Rémy Descamps made a rare start in goal with a back four of Abner, Niakhaté, Mata and Kumbedi and a front three of Fofana, Mikautadze and Maitland-Niles.
Former Lyon manager Pierre Sage was taking charge of Lens for the first time and he got a friendly reception from the visiting fans. His counterpart, Paulo Fonseca was still serving his lengthy touchline ban and consigned to a seat in the stands. His assistant Jorge Maciel took charge of affairs on the Lyon bench once again.
The first half was fairly even with chances at both ends. Lyon enjoyed the greater share of possession but struggled to create many clear-cut chances whereas Lens threatened on several occasions at the other end. However, the deadlock was broken by some good work from Malik Fofana down the left. He fired a low cross into the six yard box and Mikautadze was there to bundle it home after a slight touch from the defender.
Lyon sat back and absorbed a lot of pressure in the second period as they defended their hard-earned lead. Lens enjoyed 65% of the possession after the interval, but Lyon were increasingly dangerous on the counter attack and had chances to increase their lead. The home side struggled to get a clear sight of goal against the massed ranks of the visiting defence and when they did manage to muster a shooting opportunity, Descamps was equal to it.
Lens introduced their new signing Florian Thauvin in the 57th minute and he had an immediate impact, adding new impetus to their attacks. Fonseca waited until the 66th minute to shuffle his pack. He withdrew Kumbedi, who was living dangerously on a booking, and moved Maitland-Niles back to the right-back position, handing a first team debut to academy graduate Khalis Merah on the right side of the front line.
Merah took a while to settle, but once he got used to the pace and physicality of a Ligue 1 game he made some telling defensive contributions and offered a handy outlet going forwards. Lens threw the kitchen sink at Lyon in the dying minutes of the match and Fonseca brought on two more pairs of fresh legs in the shape of Czech debutants Šulc and Karabec. Their energy helped quell the threat and see out the game for a valuable opening day win for Lyon.