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Martín Satriano – Player Profile

Martín Satriano is a Uruguayan forward who joined Lyon on loan from Lens for the 2025-26 season. He arrived at the end of the summer transfer window when Lyon had been left without a senior striker following the sudden departure of Georges Mikautadze to Villarreal. Lyon had also lost club legend Alexandre Lacazette during a summer of financial turmoil and were in desperate need of someone experienced to lead the line.

Satriano had actually signed a permanent deal with Lens only a couple of months earlier, having spent the previous season on-loan there from Internazionale of Milan. That loan deal included an obligation to buy for €5 million if Lens avoided relegation from Ligue 1 in 2024-25, which they duly did. However, they weren’t counting on him for the following campaign and made him available for transfer.

Lyon reportedly paid a €1 million loan fee to Lens to secure the Uruguayan’s services and have an option to make the move permanent next summer for €5 million (including add-ons). This is the fifth season in a row that Satriano will spend on-loan rather than playing at his parent club. He turned 24 in February 2025 and has reached the stage of his career where he needs to finally establish himself as a regular starter somewhere.

Italian roots

Born in Montevideo in 2001, Martín Adrián Satriano Costa, to give him his full name, is eligible to represent both Uruguay and Italy in international football courtesy of Italian ancestry on his father’s side of the family. In fact, his father, Gerardo Satriano, is a former footballer who represented Club Atlético Bella Vista of Montevideo in the 1980’s. Satriano junior began his own career in the Uruguayan capital when he joined the ranks of local giants Nacional as a fourteen year old and he quickly emerged as one of their hottest young prospects.

Martín Satriano’s playing style drew comparisons with that of another illustrious Nacional academy product, Luis Suarez. However, unlike Suarez, Satriano never went on to represent the first team at Nacional. Instead he was scouted by Internazionale and tempted into making the move to Europe shortly before his nineteenth birthday in early 2020. Inter reportedly paid Nacional a transfer fee of around €2.4 million.

Move to Milano

Initially he played in the Primavera (U-19) team at Inter but it was a challenging time to try and settle in a new country. He arrived in Italy as the world plunged into the turmoil of the Covid-19 pandemic and northern Italy was particularly hard hit. Satriano made just four appearances in the Primavera 1, scoring once and providing three assists, before the season was abandoned due to the first lockdown.

The 2020-21 campaign was also disrupted by further lockdown mandates, but they did at least manage to complete the season and Satriano was a regular starter up front for Inter in the Primavera 1. He made 30 appearances for their U-19 side in the league and cup, scoring 14 goals and laying on 6 assists. Those performances earned him a promotion to Simone Inzaghi’s senior squad for the start of the following season and he made his full Inter debut on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Serie A calendar.

San Siro debut

Those first steps as a senior pro came at the San Siro where he came off the bench in the 77th minute to replace Hakan Çalhanoğlu with Inter leading 3-0 against Genoa. The home side went on to secure a 4-0 victory. All in all, Satriano went on to make four Serie A appearances for Inter in the first half of the season, all as a late substitute. He was involved in three wins and a draw.

Travelling with the first team squad meant that his Primavera appearances were now limited. He did manage three appearances for them but his playing time was further curtailed by a suspension after he picked up the first red card of his career for violent conduct in stoppage time of a defeat to Roma. Midway through the season, in January 2022, the Inter hierarchy decided that the best plan for Satriano’s development was to send him out on loan to gain experience in senior football and hopefully get some more playing time.

First spell on loan

So it was that Martín Satriano arrived in Brest for his first taste of Ligue 1 in the far-flung reaches of west Brittany. After a couple of substitute appearances, manager Michel Der Zakarian handed him a first start in a home match against lowly Troyes and he responded with a quick-fire brace. Those first two goals of his senior career set his new club on the way to a thumping 5-1 win. He followed it up with another strike a week later in a 1-1 draw at Reims and then had to wait a few games before finding the net again in a 2-1 win at Montpellier.

Satriano was a starter for Brest when Lyon visited the Stade Francis-Le Blé in April 2022 and his intelligent forward play caused plenty of problems for Peter Bosz’s team. He ran himself into the ground and was substituted shortly after the home side scored their 74th minute winner, having also picked up a yellow card. There were to be no further goals for Satriano that season and his loan spell ended with a tally of four from 15 Ligue 1 appearances.

International call-up

The following season Inter decided to keep their young prospect closer to home and give him a taste of Serie A via a loan to Empoli. It was a tough introduction to life in the Italian top flight as Empoli were not a free-scoring side, finding the net only 37 times in 38 games during their battle to a respectable 14th place finish. Manager Paolo Zanetti placed a lot of faith in the young Uruguayan, making him Empoli’s most used striker during the season, but Satriano was only on the scoresheet twice (against Salernitana and Monza).

Despite his struggle for goals, Satriano had caught the eye of Uruguay boss Diego Alonso and he was called up to the national team squad in September 2022. He earned his first, and to date only, cap in a friendly against Canada at the Tehelné Pole stadium in Bratislava. He came off the bench in the 61st minute to replace Darwin Núñez with the Uruguayans already two goals to the good and helped them see out the 2-0 victory.

Back to Brest

Come the start of the 2023-24 season, Internazionale still didn’t consider him ready to compete for a first team spot, so he was loaned out once again. Brest, now under the stewardship of former Lyon midfielder Éric Roy, were eager to bring Satriano back to Brittany for a second stint, so this time he joined them on a season-long deal.

It proved to be a remarkable campaign for ‘Les Pirates’ as they defied all expectations to record the highest finish in their 121 year history. Third place in Ligue 1 was secured on the final day of the season, which qualified them for the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Satriano won many plaudits for his workrate and unselfish team play when leading the line, although he only managed a slightly disappointing four goals in the league from 33 appearances. In mitigation, it is worth noting that the goals were shared quite evenly around the Brest squad, with no player scoring more than eight.

Injury nightmare at Lens

Never one for spending two seasons in the same place, Martín Satriano didn’t stick around in Brittany to experience the Champions League football that he had helped to earn. Instead he was loaned from Inter to Racing Club de Lens for 2025-26, with the aforementionned obligation to buy. Unfortunately that loan spell turned into something of a personal nightmare as he tore cruciate ligaments in just his fourth match for ‘Les Sang et Or’. The injury consigned him to a spell of seven months on the sidelines and he only returned to action for the last three games of the season.

His comeback match was against Lyon at the Groupama Stadium in May. He came off the bench to play the final twenty minutes of a 2-1 win for Lens and made further substitute appearances in the following two matches. However, it was essentially a lost year for the striker, as his total playing time for Lens amounted to a meagre 81 minutes with no goals scored. Despite his injury woes Lens were, of course, obliged to buy him, having finished eighth in the table.

Loan to Lyon

All of which brings us back to the current season and his loan from Lens to Lyon. As a striker who has never managed more than four goals in a season and is feeling his way back from a serious injury, he’s not exactly hot property at the moment. However, Lyon were in desperate need of a striker available on the cheap, so he’s been handed the chance to rekindle his career at another big club.

It has been a slow start for Satriano at Lyon so far, with no goals and a solitary assist from his six appearances in Ligue 1. He did find the net in the UEFA Europa League in a 2-0 win against RB Salzburg, but has looked an isolated figure at times in a Lyon shirt. He often seems to be ploughing a lonely furrow up front and his game isn’t ideally suited to that of a lone targetman. It seems doubtful that he’ll be able to score enough goals to convince the Lyon management that he’s a long-term solution to their striker problem, but he has a good work ethic and is doing a decent enough job in the short term.

Lyon 2-0 RB Salzburg – Satriano and Kluivert open their accounts

Olympique Lyonnais made it two wins from two at the start of their UEFA Europa League campaign with a comfortable victory against RB Salzburg at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon. They are one of seven teams with maximum points after two rounds, alongside Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland, Aston Villa, Braga, Lille and Porto at the top of the table.

Lyon started strongly and won a penalty inside five minutes when a shot from Mathys de Carvalho was handled inside the box. However, Pavel Šulc saw his tame penalty well saved by Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Schlager diving to his left.

Schlager undid his good work a few minutes later when his poor pass towards Terzic was anticipated by Adam Karabec, who intercepted it on the edge of the box and crossed with precision for Satriano to head home his first goal for Lyon.

Karabec continued to cause problems for the visitors as he delivered a number of inviting crosses from the right flank, one of which was nearly turned in by Tagliafico. As the half wore on, RB Salzburg finally managed to carve out some openings of their own and their Belgian forward Yorbe Vertessen threatened twice but couldn’t conjure an equaliser.

Lyon doubled their advantage eleven minutes into the second half following a corner from Karabec. It fell to Šulc, whose shot was headed off the line by Stefan Lainer, before finding its way back out to Karabec. The Czech winger delivered another peach of a ball into the box and Ruben Kluivert, up from the back, leapt to head the ball expertly inside the far post to notch up his first goal for the club.

There were further chances for Tolisso and Satriano but Lyon couldn’t add to their goal tally. Dominik Greif was called into action a few times but never looked like conceding his first goal in a Lyon shirt and duly recorded his fourth clean sheet in as many matches. It’s now four wins in a row for Paulo Fonseca’s men in all competitions.

Lille 0-1 Lyon

Lyon continued their excellent start to the Ligue 1 season with a brilliant backs-to-the-wall win against Lille at the Decathlon Arena. English midfielder Tyler Morton scored the only goal with a header in the 13th minute and Lyon defended resolutely thereafter to protect their lead.

The win means that Lyon keep pace with Paris-Saint Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 table. The pair are both on 15 points, three clear of Marseille, Monaco and Strasbourg in joint third, although PSG’s goal difference is three better than Lyon’s. Lille drop down to sixth.

Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca named a strong team against his former club, but again opted to line up without a recognised striker in the starting XI. The extra body in midfield afforded them plenty of possession early on and it didn’t take them long to find a breakthrough.

Morton was lurking behind the Lille defence and he cleverly moved back onside just as Argentinian left-back Nicolás Tagliafico sent in a cross. The Englishman found space between the two Lille centre-backs and headed expertly back across goal and into the net, leaving Lille ‘keeper Arnaud Bodart with no chance.

Lille almost struck back within two minutes when the ball fell invitingly to DR Congo international midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau just seven yards out from goal. However, he fired his shot straight at Lyon goalkeeper Dominik Greif, who blocked it with his shoulder, perhaps more by luck than judgement. Greif had already saved well from Fernandez-Pardo early on and he continued to frustrate the home side for the rest of the game.

Olivier Giroud was a constant threat in the Lyon box but he came off second best in his battle with Mata and Niakhaté, who have formed a formidable partnership in the heart of the Lyon defence. Iceland international Hákon Arnar Haraldsson came close with a low shot from close range in the 66th minute, but steered his effort wide of the near post.

The equaliser really should have come three minutes later when Félix Correia had an open goal to aim at, but put his shot over the bar. Perhaps that miss made Lille realise that it wasn’t going to be their day and the frustration on the bench soon boiled over when their former Lyon manager, Bruno Genesio, was sent off for kicking a crate of water bottles.

Lille continued to exert pressure but couldn’t find a way through. Their rhythm was perhaps disrupted by the litany of fouls that punctuated play. The total of 44 is the highest recorded in a Ligue 1 match in the past five and a half years going back to February 2020. Greif made another excellent save from Sahraoui late on and some last ditch defending helped to preserve the clean sheet. An impressive achievement as it brought to an end Lille’s run of scoring in sixty consecutive home matches across all competitions going back to February 2023.

It was a sixth clean sheet in seven matches for Lyon this season (all competitions) and they have yet to concede at all with eleven men on the pitch. Greif has begun his Lyon career with three consecutive clean sheets and is beginning to look like a real bargain.

Utrecht 0-1 Lyon – Tessmann strikes again

Lyon opened up their UEFA Europa League campaign with a win and a fifth clean sheet in their opening six games of the 2025-26 season. It was a tense game with few clear-cut opportunities for either team, but Lyon dominated the possession and won it with a wonder strike from USA international midfielder Tanner Tessmann in the 75th minute. It was his second winning goal for the club in the space of six days, following his goal against Angers at the weekend.

Lyon fielded a much changed team from the Angers fixture, with Maitland-Niles, Tessmann and Merah being rested whereas captain Corentin Tolisso was suspended due to his red card in the defeat at Old Trafford in the same competition last April. In came Ruben Kluivert and Mathys De Carvalho, both making their first starts for the club, as well as Tyler Morton and Pavel Šulc.

Utrecht were quick out of the blocks, forcing Dominik Greif to make his first save in the fourth minute when a shot from outside the box deflected off Morton and looped towards the top corner. They had another good chance from a corner kick moments later when the ball was flicked on by Mike van der Hoorn and narrowly evaded his centre-back partner Nick Viergever, who was following in for a tap-in at the far post.

Lyon soon settled into their rhythm after that ropey start and began to exert a measure of control on proceedings. However, they didn’t really threaten the Utrecht goal until after the interval. Their first chance of note came from a corner on the right, which was flicked on by Niakhaté to where Kluivert was attacking the far post. The Dutch defender almost opened the scoring against his former club as he stooped to head it back across goal, but he was denied by an outstretched arm from Utrecht’s Greek goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas.

A flurry of substitutions by Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca in the 65th minute changed the game in their favour. On came Maitland-Niles, Ghezzal, Tessmann and Moreira. Incredibly, the four of them combined for the goal some ten minutes later. Maitland-Niles fed Moreira down the left wing, where his run had taken him in behind the Utrecht defence. He cut the ball back across the box to Ghezzal, who laid it off the Tessmann, advancing from central midfield. The American struck the ball as sweetly as he’s ever done before, firing it into the top corner past a helpless Barkas from twenty-five yards out.

Moreira’s pace continued to cause problems for the home side and he tested Barkas again in the 85th minute before Utrecht created a great chance for an equaliser late on. The ball fell to Ivory Coast international striker Sébastien Haller on the edge of the six-yard box, but he couldn’t sort his feet out in time and only managed a tame lunging prod straight into the arms of a relieved Dominik Greif in the Lyon goal.

Dominik Greif – Player Profile

Dominik Greif is a Slovak international goalkeeper who joined Olympique Lyonnais in August 2025. He was signed from Spanish club Real Mallorca for a fee of €4 million, which could rise as high as €5.25 million with add-ons if certain conditions are met. Greif will compete with Rémy Descamps for the number one spot in the Lyon line-up this season.

A financial crisis forced Lyon to sell the majority of their first team players during the summer and the departures included first choice goalkeeper Lucas Perri (to Leeds United). Grief was quickly identified as a potential replacement. Tall and imposing in his box, with an impressive palmarès, he was keen to come and test himself in Ligue 1.

Lyon actually played against Mallorca in a pre-season friendly in Austria when rumours of their interest in Greif had already been circulating for a few days. Lyon won easily, putting four goals past their hapless opponents, but they didn’t get a first hand look at Greif as he wasn’t involved on the day. Nevertheless, negotiations were initiated and less than three weeks later Greif arrived in Lyon to sign a four year deal.

Rise through the ranks

Born in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, in 1997, Dominik Greif began playing youth football with ŠK Vrakuňa Bratislava based in the Vrakuňa district to the east of the city centre. He was soon scouted by local giants Slovan Bratislava and duly joined their junior ranks.

In February 2014, aged sixteen and ten months, he received a call-up for the Slovakia U-17 team and played in a friendly against Sweden at La Manga in Spain. Towards the end of the following season, he began to feature on the bench for the Slovan reserve team playing in the second tier of the Slovak football pyramid, the DOXXbet liga.

Greif got his chance in the third game of the 2015-16 season when he was handed the gloves for a DOXXbet liga match away at Trnava reserves. He kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win and subsequently became the first choice ‘keeper for Slovan reserves. However, his stint in the reserves would prove to be short-lived as his progress continued apace.

First team debut

Dominik Greif’s first taste of first team action came in the early rounds of the Slovak Cup, known as the Slovnaft Cup due to a sponsorship agreement with an oil refining company. He kept goal in wins against FC Nitra and Pohronie in autumn 2015 before the senior goalkeeper, Jan Mucha, took over for the subsequent rounds. Slovan made it all the way to the final, where they lost 3-1 to AS Trencin with Grief on the bench,

Towards the end of that 2015-16 campaign, Grief became a regular on the bench for the first team and he made his Fortuna Liga (top division) debut in the penultimate game of the season, a 1-1 draw at Michalovce. He kept his place the following weekend for the 2-2 draw with Podbrezova that brought down the curtain on the Fortuna Liga season with Slovan finishing in second place to qualify for the Europa League.

Decisive at both ends of the pitch

At the same time as he was gradually working his way into the first team reckoning at Slovan, Dominik Greif moved up to the Slovak U-19 squad that was attempting to qualify for the U19 Euros. His debut at that level was nothing short of sensational. It came on the 12th of November 2015 against Russia at the Slava Metreveli Central Stadium in Sochi.

The Russians were leading 1-0 deep into injury time when Slovakia won a corner and Greif went up to see if his height could cause any problems in the opposing box. He jumped to meet the cross, but didn’t connect. However, his Russian counterpart flapped at it and the ball fell near the opportunistic Greif, who instinctively back-heeled it into the net. His last gasp equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Slovaks and made it an unforgettable debut. There’s some very grainy footage of it set to a jaunty tune on YouTube.

He went on to play three more times for the Slovakia U-19 side that season, but unsurprisingly couldn’t repeat his goalscoring heroics.

Kings of the cup

The 2016-17 season saw the nineteen-year-old Greif divide his time fairly equally between the reserves and the first team at Slovan. He made 14 appearances for the reserves and 9 for the first team. It was another second place finish for Slovan in the Fortuna Liga, but they went one better than the previous season in the Slovnaft Cup, beating second division Skalica 3-0 in the final. This time Grief was part of the action, playing the full ninety minutes as Mucha was injured. The clean sheet was the cherry on the cake as Slovan lifted the cup for the first time since 2013 and it represents the first major honour of Greif’s career.

There were no more spells in the reserves during the 2017-18 season as Greif was now very much part of the first team squad. He began the season as number one and played every Fortuna Liga game of the regular season bar the last three when he was relegated to the bench. He remained side-lined for the championship play-off group as Michal Sulla took over goalkeeping duties for Slovan, and he also missed out on the cup final where they retained their they trophy with a 3-1 win against Ruzomberok.

Full international

The 2018-19 season could be said to be the campaign where Dominik Greif’s career really took off. He regained the number one slot from Sulla in the second Fortuna Liga game of the season and never looked back. Greif kept ten clean sheets in 29 appearances as Slovan stormed to the title by a massive margin of seventeen points. It was their ninth Slovak title and first since 2014.

Greif was named in the Fortuna Liga Best XI for 2018-19 and his performances were also rewarded with further international recognition. A call up to the U-21 squad came in September 2018 and he made his debut for them in a 3-0 win against Italy U21 at the MOL Aréna. That was followed by a call up to the full international team in June 2019 under coach Pavel Hapal. His debut came as a half-time substitute in a 5-1 friendly win against Jordan at the Anton Malatinský Stadium in Trnava.

Dominik Greif’s second cap and first start for the national team came four months later, in October 2019. He played the full ninety minutes of a friendly against Paraguay at the Tehelné pole in Bratislava and was not beaten until the 85th minute of the 1-1 draw.

Double double delight

Domestically the 2019-20 season was a walk in the park for Slovan. They again won the Fortuna Liga by a seventeen point margin and completed a double with a cup final victory against Ruzomberok. The goalkeepers were rotated for the cup fixtures, so Greif sat on the bench while Sulla deputised in the final. When it came to the post-season awards, Greif swept the board, winning the overall Fortuna Liga Player of the Year trophy. He also picked up the Goalkeeper of the Year award and of course made it into the team of the season.

In European competition, Slovan came through eight qualifying matches to reach the group stage of the UEFA Europa League where they faced Besiktas, SC Braga and Wolverhampton Wanderers. They beat Besiktas 4-2 at home in the opening game, with Greif getting an assist for the first goal, and they got a creditable draw at Braga in the second game. However, they didn’t pick up any further points and were eliminated.

The 2020-21 season followed very much in the same vein as its predecessor. Slovan retained the double, although this time they only finished six points clear at the top of the league table. Once again the ‘keepers were rotated for the cup matches, so Sulla got to play in the win over MSK Zilina in the final. Once again Greif was named best goalkeeper and made it into the team of the season.

Their European campaign was curtailed in its infancy this time around. The Covid pandemic meant that qualification matches were only played over a single leg and they went out at the first hurdle in both Champions League and Europa League qualifying. Greif did pick up his third and fourth international caps during the season, in a pair of UEFA Nations League B defeats at home to Czechia and Israel.

Move to Mallorca

In the summer of 2021, Dominik Greif submitted a transfer request, having achieved everything that he could possibly achieve in Slovak football. There had been plenty of interest in him from abroad over the years and it was newly promoted La Liga side RCD Mallorca who secured his signature for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be around €2.5 million. Thus ended his thirteen year association with Slovan Bratislava. He left the club with a tally of 132 first team appearances, 46 clean sheets and just 135 goals conceded.

Greif joined a Mallorca squad that contained former Lyon midfield star Clement Grenier and future Athletic Club midfielder Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta. Manager Luis García had made a number of new signings in order to help the club adjust to life in the top division and Greif was expected to start as a reserve and eventually compete for the number one spot. Unfortunately his first few seasons at the club were blighted by a succession of injuries and illnesses.

Greif began the on the bench but got his chance in the seventh game of the season when Mallorca took on Osasuna at the Son Moix stadium. However, he was beaten three times in a 3-2 defeat and returned to the bench until a Copa del Rey First Round tie at Gimnastica Segoviana on the 1st of December. This one went to extra time but Mallorca won through and Greif got his first clean sheet in Spanish football in a 2-0 win.

Injury grief for Greif

That’s when his health problems kicked in and he didn’t feature in a matchday squad again from the 4th of December until the end of the season. With just the two appearances, he ended up being Mallorca’s fourth most used goalkeeper that season after Manolo Reina, Sergio Rico and Leo Román.

The following campaign wasn’t much of an improvement for Dominik Greif. He didn’t return to the matchday squad until the 9th of November 2022, and had to make do with a place on the bench once again. He now found himself understudy to Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajković, a summer signing from Stade de Reims for €4.5 million. Greif was limited to three more appearances in the Copa del Rey and a single outing in La Liga in the penultimate game of the season, a 3-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

Epic Cup Run

Rajković was first choice again in the 2023-24 campaign under coach Javier Aguirre. For the third season running, Greif made just a solitary appearance in the league. This time he at least managed a clean sheet in a goalless draw against Valencia at the Mestalla. He was given his chance to shine in the Copa del Rey and he grabbed it with both hands, playing in seven of their eight fixtures on their run to the final and keeping four clean sheets.

Mallorca faced Real Sociedad over two legs in the semi-finals and the tie went all the way to penalties after a 1-1 draw on aggregate. Greif saved the first penalty in the shoot-out, from Mikel Oyarzabal, to give his team an instant advantage that they never relinquished. Former Lyon midfielder Sergi Darder tucked away the winning penalty to put Mallorca into the final.

They faced Athletic Club in the final at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville and took the lead early on only for Oihan Sancet to equalise just after half time. The match remained deadlocked through extra time and another shoot-out ensued. This time Greif couldn’t produce any saves and two of his team mates failed with their kicks, meaning that he had to settle for a runners-up medal.

Taking his chance

Happily for Dominik Greif, Predrag Rajković was sold to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia for €11 million in summer 2024, meaning that the Slovak could finally inherit the number one jersey. He enjoyed a fine season as Mallorca’s first choice goalkeeper, making 31 appearances in La Liga and keeping seven clean sheets with 34 goals conceded as they finished 10th in the table under new coach Jagoba Arrasate.

Greif even received a long overdue recall to the Slovakia squad in November 2024 and won his fifth cap in a UEFA Nations League C match against Estonia. He kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win at the Anton Malatinský Stadium. It brought to an end a wait of over four years since he picked up his fourth cap in October 2020.

Destination France

With only a year left on his Mallorca contract in summer 2025, it was time for Greif to make another decision about his future. That’s when Lyon came calling and he made the move to the Rhône. He left Mallorca with a paltry 46 appearances during his four seasons in the Balearics, but 15 of them resulted in clean sheets and he only had to pick the ball out of his net on 48 occasions.

Greif profited from an injury to Rémy Descamps to make his Lyon debut in the fifth game of the season and he started as he means to go on, with a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against Angers at the Groupama Stadium. He made a couple of impressive saves in injury time to secure the victory. He followed that up with another clean sheet away at Utrecht in the Europa League a few days later in another 1-0 win. Now aged 28 and approaching his peak years, he looks to have a bright future ahead of him if he can steer clear of the injuries and illnesses that have dogged him in recent seasons.

Lyon 1-0 Angers

Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca handed debuts to two new signings in his starting XI for the visit of Angers on matchday five of the Ligue 1 season. Slovak goalkeeper Dominik Greif, signed from Mallorca, came in to replace Rémy Descamps, who picked up an injury in the defeat at Rennes. Up front there was a debut for Uruguayan striker Martín Satriano, who joined on loan from Lens.

For the first time since March, Fonseca was allowed inside the Lyon dressing room before the match and during half time as that aspect of his lengthy ban has finally expired. However, he’s still not allowed on the touchline during matches for another couple of months, so once again he was forced to follow proceedings from the press tribune.

Lyon were strong favourites before the match and they proceeded to dominate possession during the first forty five minutes without managing to create any clear-cut chances. They did have the ball in the net in the 21st minute via a Tagliafico header, but it was ruled out for a handball by Niakhaté in the build-up. The only other action of note was a nasty late tackle on Fofana by Angers defender Carlens Arcus, who escaped with just a yellow card.

The home side continued to toil away after the interval and started to create shooting opportunities more regularly but the visiting defence continued to hold firm until the introduction of Czech international Pavel Šulc in the 65th minute. His first task was to deliver a corner from the left and it found the head of Satriano, who forced a good save from Angers goalkeeper Hervé Koffi, diving low to his left. Tanner Tessmann was first to react and he expertly guided the rebound just inside of the far post to open the scoring.

Satriano, who had been anonymous during the first half, came close again a few minutes after the goal when he hit the woodwork from a narrow angle on the right. The rebound fell just out of reach for Fofana, who almost had a tap-in to an open goal. The game really should have been done and dusted in the 79th minute when Maitland-Niles received the ball on the right of the six yard box with only Koffi to beat but he steered his shot agonisingly wide of the far post.

There was a third debutant for Lyon in the closing stages when academy product Mathys de Carvalho came off the bench to replace Tolisso in midfield. He was joined by another youngster, forward Enzo Molebe, making only his third appearance for the club. It was therefore a youthful and inexperienced Lyon team that was charged with seeing out the final few minutes to secure the three points.

The earlier misses meant that it was a more uncomfortable final few minutes than it needed to be for the home fans. Angers launched their inevitable late charge and came mightily close to finding an equaliser through Lanroy Machine in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The striker, who had only just come off the bench, saw his powerful effort tipped onto the post by Greif, and out for a corner.

That corner produced another major scare for Lyon right at the death when it fell to Ekomié at the far post. Greif, who had been a spectator for much of the game, pulled another smart save out of the bag to preserve his clean sheet and see Lyon move back to joint top of the Ligue 1 table ahead of the other matchday five fixtures over the weekend.

Rennes Robbery: Rennes 3-1 Lyon

Lyon lost their one hundred percent record in controversial fashion at Roazhon Park with a 3-1 defeat to Rennes. Playing without a centre forward for the second game running, Les Gones dominated the first half and took the lead in the 14th minute. Corentin Tolisso, playing as a false nine, rose highest in the box to head home a Karabec cross.

A couple of minutes later Rennes defender Anthony Rouault escaped unpunished for a horror tackle on Lyon midfielder Khalis Merah that many onlookers thought merited a straight red card. Bizarrely the VAR officials didn’t ask referee Ruddy Buquet to take another look at it.

Fortunately Merah avoided serious injury and was able to continue. He was presented with a golden opportunity to double the advantage shortly before half time when he got in behind the Rennes defence and ran half the length of the pitch for a one-on-one with Rennes goalkeeper Brice Samba. The France international came off his line to save the initial effort, pushing the ball wide to the right from where Merah followed up with a second shot that Samba recovered to save again.

With 60% of the first half possession and four shots on target to zero for Rennes it was clear that Lyon were well on top at the interval and it seemed like only a matter of time until they wrapped up the game. They had another huge chance to do so in the 62nd minute when Karabec beat his man to open up a glorious shooting opportunity. It looked easier to score, but he somehow put his effort wide of the post.

Lyon were still seemingly coasting towards victory and a fourth consecutive clean sheet with a quarter of an hour left to play when everything began to unravel very quickly. Tyler Morton decided to take one for the team by tripping Rennes substitute Mohamed Kader Meïté to nip a counter attack in the bud. To universal astonishment his tactical foul was punished with a red card rather than the standard yellow and Lyon were reduced to ten men.

Rennes capitalised on their numerical advantage almost immediately with a goal from Rouault after a scramble in the Lyon box following a corner. There was a long VAR check to examine an apparent offside and potential foul on the goalkeeper, but the goal was eventually awarded to the player who probably shouldn’t still have been on the pitch.

The Rennes tails were up and they threw everything into the chase for a winner, which duly came in the third minute of injury time. Meïté took a shot from an acute angle which deflected into the net off Lyon goalkeeper Rémy Descamps. To rub salt into the wound, Meïté scored again two minutes later with a header to make it an improbable 3-1 home win.

Adam Karabec – Player Profile

Adam Karabec is a Czech attacking midfielder or winger who joined Olympique Lyonnais on a season-long loan from Sparta Prague towards the end of the summer 2025 transfer window. Lyon reportedly paid a loan fee of €300,000 and have an option to pay €3.5 million to make the transfer permanent.

His arrival doubled the Czech contingent in the Lyon squad, as it come hot on the heels of his compatriot Pavel Šulc joining from Viktoria Plzeň. The pair became the third and fourth Czech players to represent Lyon, following in the footsteps of striker Milan Baroš (2007–2008) and midfielder Antonín Tichý (1950–1953). Czechoslovakia international Ján Popluhár also played for the club in the 1969-70 season, but he was born in what is now Slovakia.

Prague Upbringing

Karabec was born in the Czech capital, Prague, and began his career in the youth setup of local club Bohemians 1905. He later moved to the Sparta Prague academy and began a long association with the record Czech champions that took him from his early teens into his twenties.

His progress through the youth ranks brought him to the attention of the national team setup and he was selected for the Czech Republic U-15 squad for the first time in November 2017. He made ten appearances for them in friendly internationals that season, including a 6-4 defeat to an England team captained by a young Jude Bellingham. He found the net in friendlies against the Uruguay, Ireland and Croatia U-15 selections.

The following season, Karabec moved up to the Czech U-16 squad and played regularly, making 14 appearances and scoring three times, including a brace against Belgium. Towards the end of the season, he was handed his debut for Sparta Prague U-19s in the 1. Dorostenecka Liga (the top-tier youth football league in the Czech Republic). He made quite the impact, coming off the bench at half time to score twice and help turn a 2-0 deficit against Viktoria Plzeň into a 3-2 victory.

Rise to the first team

The 2019-20 season will primarily be remembered around the globe as the first campaign to be disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Adam Karabec will look back on it with fondness as the year he made his big breakthrough into the senior ranks. His rise during those twelve months was meteoric.

There was a hint of things to come when he was nominated as Player of the Tournament in the pre-season U-19 competition the CEE Cup. Sparta Prague lost out to serial tournament winners Palmeiras U19 in the final. He began the domestic season in the 1. Dorostenecka Liga but quickly found himself promoted to the Sparta Prague B team, playing in the third tier Bohemian Football League (ČFL). Karabec was soon amongst the goals at that level and also gained his first caps for the Czech U-19 team that autumn.

During the winter break he played in a couple of friendlies with the first team and then travelled with the squad for warm weather training in Marbella. When Sparta lost their first league game after the break, head coach Václav Jílek was dismissed and the B team coach, Václav Kotal, was promoted as his replacement. Kotal handed his former B team prodigy a first team debut as a late substitute in his first game in charge.

Karabec had to wait until after the first Covid lockdown for a second taste of top-flight action. There were a further three substitute appearances when football resumed in late May. The first of those delivered his maiden goal, making him the third youngest scorer in the history of the Czech top division. He made his first start in the penultimate Fortuna Liga game of the season and recorded his first assist. Sparta made it into the championship play-offs and ultimately finished third.

Under-21 International

Karabec was rewarded with a first call-up to the Czech U-21 team later that summer, aged just seventeen, and a few days later he was drafted into the full Czechia squad for a UEFA Nations League tie with Scotland, but remained an unused substitute. English newspaper The Guardian included him in their Next Generation 2020: 60 of the best young talents in world football article that October.

Adam Karabec was a regular in the Sparta Prague first team squad from the beginning on the 2020-21 season onwards. Initially he found himself on the bench waiting to be deployed as a late substitute, but as the season wore on he began to get a few starts. He racked up a total of 23 Fortuna Liga appearances (17 as substitute) and scored three goals during that first full season with the senior team as they finished second in the table. He also made his debut in European competition during their Europa League group stage campaign.

March 2021 saw Karabec included in the Czechia squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in Hungary and Slovenia. Starting alongside future Lyon team mate Pavel Šulc in attacking midfield, Karabec got an assist in the opening game against Italy. His free-kick provoked an own goal by Giulio Maggiore to level the scores and secure a 1-1 draw.

He came off the bench in the second game with Czechia trailing 1-0 against Slovenia and helped the Czechs fight back to salvage another 1-1 draw to set up a decisive final Group B fixture against Spain. Despite his best efforts, the Spanish U-21 team proved too strong and Czechia exited the tournament on the back of a 2-0 defeat.

Talent of the Year

2021-22 proved to be an even busier season for the young forward as he made 42 appearances for Sparta across all competitions, plus a further nine for the Czech U-21 team in European Championship qualifying. His personal highlight would doubtless have been the Czech Talent of the Year award that was bestowed upon him as 2021 drew to a close. It recognises the best young Czech player each calendar year.

On the pitch, there were several highlights, including a European campaign that incorporated all three UEFA competitions and continued into late February. Sparta began in Champions League qualifying and dismissed Rapid Vienna before a defeat to AS Monaco dumped them into the Europa League. There they were drawn into Group A alongside Brøndby, Rangers and Olympique Lyonnais. Karabec was used sparingly by coach Pavel Vrba, but he did feature as a late substitute in both fixtures against Lyon. Perhaps he did enough during his fleeting appearances in that pair of defeats to make someone at Lyon note his name down as one for the future.

A third place finish in the group saw them drop into the Conference League play-off round where they were eliminated by Partizan Belgrade. The domestic cup treated them more kindly and they reached the final against Slovacko in May. Karabec started the final in the number ten role but failed to make an impression on the game and was replaced at half time with Sparta trailing 3-1, which proved to be the final score. In the league, Sparta had to settle for third place.

Title Triumph

Internationally, Karabec continued to progress and he found the net four times in those aforementioned European Championship qualifying matches, including a penalty against England in a 3-1 defeat at Turf Moor. Anthony Gordon scored a brace for the hosts with Folarin Balogun grabbing the other. Despite a pair of defeats against England, the Czechs did make it through to the finals.

The following season heralded the first major honours of Adam Karabec’s career, as Sparta Prague lifted the Czech league title for the first time in nine years. They finished top of the regular season table, two points ahead of their rivals Slavia Prague, with Karabec having scored twice in 20 appearances. That advantage was wiped out during the six team championship play-off and they finished level on points with Slavia but earned the title thanks to their superior regular season record.

Sparta also made it all the way to the Czech cup final again, but suffered a second consecutive disappointment in the showpiece occasion. This time it was Slavia who got the better of them. Karabec played the full ninety minutes of the final, which took place at their home Stadion Letná, but he drew a blank in a 2-0 defeat.

A second U-21 Euros

The season ended with the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Romania and Georgia, where the Czechs were placed in Group C alongside Germany Israel and eventual winners England. Karabec came off the bench in the opener against England to replace Šulc in the 66th minute but the Czechs were already trailing 1-0 to a Jacob Ramsey strike and ended up losing 2-0 after Emile Smith Rowe finished the job in stoppage time.

It was the other way around in the second match against Germany with Šulc replacing Karabec in the 74th minute. It was 1-1 at the time and Czechia rallied late on to win 2-1. However, they couldn’t capitalise on that performance in the final group game, where they lost 1-0 to the Israelis, with Karabec starting but being withdrawn at the interval when it was still deadlocked at 0-0. They ended up in third place in the group and were eliminated.

Double Delight

There was only one way to top Sparta’s 2022-23 season, and that was by going one better in 2023-24 and winning the double, which they duly did in style. Karabec had his most productive league season in front of goal, scoring four times in the regular season. He also provided three assists from his position on the right side of a front three. They topped the table by four points and held onto top spot through the championship play-offs to retain their title.

Sparta’s MOL Cup campaign looked to be going down the pan when they were trailing 2-0 to Slavia at their rival’s Fortuna Arena in the quarter-finals. However, a brace from Victor Olatunji forced extra time and Karabec came off the bench to score a penalty in the 114th minute and put Sparta into the semis. That was actually his last involvement in the cup run as he missed the semi and remained on the bench during the 2-1 win against Viktoria Plzen in the final. However, he did finally get his hands on a winner’s medal after two years of heartbreak.

Hamburger Hero

In July 2024, just two days after his twenty-first birthday, Adam Karabec transferred to Hamburger SV on loan. The German giants had been languishing in the 2. Bundesliga (the second division) for six seasons, never finishing lower than fourth, but never quite managing to secure promotion back to the elite. Thanks in part to the arrival of the young Czech, that was about to change.

Karabec went straight into the Hamburg starting XI for the first game of the season and got an assist in a 2-1 win at 1.FC Köln. From there on he was almost ever-present, missing only three games all season as Die Rothosen chased the title. He weighed in with three goals and seven assists from an attacking midfield role. Sadly a final day defeat to Greuther Fürth meant they missed out on first place, but they did enough to finish second and secure that long awaited promotion.

Another U-21 Euros

That summer, Karabec became the first Czech player to feature in three UEFA European Under-21 championships when he travelled to the finals in neighbouring Slovakia. Once again the Czechs were drawn into a group containing England and Germany, with Slovenia making up the numbers.

They faced England in their opening game at the DAC Aréna in Dunajská Streda. Adam Karabec began the match on the bench and saw England take a 2-0 lead with goals from Harvey Elliott and Jonathan Rowe before Daniel Fila pulled one back for the Czechs. Karabec replaced Fila in the 64th minute but couldn’t inspire his team to find an equaliser. Instead a Charlie Cresswell header wrapped it up for England with a quarter of an hour left to play. Also featuring as a late substitute in that match was Tyler Morton, who would join Karabec in moving to Lyon later that summer.

Karabec started the final two group matches, a 4-2 defeat to Germany and a 2-0 win against Slovenia in which he provided the assist for the second goal. Unfortunately that win was too little too late and the Czechs finished third in Group B for another group stage exit. His three appearances at the tournament took Karabec up to an impressive 29 caps (and 5 goals) for the Czechia U-21 team.

Full international

Three months later, he was called up to the full Czech squad by manager Ivan Hasek for a friendly match against Saudi Arabia at the Malšovická aréna in Hradec Králové. He came on to make his full international debut at half time in the 1-1 draw and will hope to be more heavily involved in the future.

Hamburg did have an option to try and purchase Karabec outright at the end of his loan spell and they were reportedly keen to do so, but they couldn’t agree a price with Sparta Prague. That’s when Lyon stepped in to take him on loan to France. He made his Lyon debut as a very late substitute in the 1-0 win away at Lens on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season.

He came off the bench again a week later in the home clash with Metz and crowned his first appearance at the Groupama Stadium with the goal that wrapped up a 3-0 win. His first Lyon start came the following weekend in a 1-0 home win against Marseille in the ‘Olympico’ derby and he’s rapidly establishing himself as an important squad member for ‘Les Gones‘.

Lyon were forced to scour the transfer market for bargains in the summer of 2025 due to their parlous financial state and a mass exodus of experienced first team players. The total wage bill was reportedly slashed and they must adhere to strict financial stipulations from both UEFA and the French football authorities over the coming few seasons. Therefore, young rough diamonds such as Adam Karabec will be crucial to their renaissance. Hopefully he’ll go on to realise his full potential.

Lyon 1-0 Marseille

Olympique Lyonnais won a keenly contested ‘Olympico’ at the Groupama Stadium on matchday 3 of the season to maintain their 100% record and join PSG at the top of the nascent Ligue 1 table on nine points.

The build up to the game was overshadowed by the breaking news that Lyon’s star striker (and indeed only striker), Georges Mikautadze, was being sold to Villarreal in Spain. The move was necessary in order to meet the strict financial conditions imposed on the club by the DNCG (French football’s financial watchdog), but it left Lyon somewhat blunt in attack for this fixture.

They lined up in a kind of 4-6-0 formation with Fofana and Karabec the most advanced players, cutting in from the left and right flanks respectively. Eighteen-year-old Khalis Merah was handed his first competitive start for the club in midfield.

The formation worked well initially with regards to ball retention and chance creation, but the absence of a centre-forward to finish off the moves became increasingly conspicuous as the half wore on. Bizarrely, it was the left-back, Abner Vinicius, who found himself on the end of three major chances, but his first shot from close range was straight at Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

A few minutes later, Abner was through one on one with Rulli and fell to the ground as he poked the ball beyond the diving ‘keeper. The referee initially blew for a penalty but it was overturned on examination by the VAR officials and Abner was cautioned for diving. Soon after, Abner did finally have the ball in the back of the net, but this goal was ruled out for an offside by Fofana earlier in the move.

Fofana had been causing havoc with his pace on the left flank and just before the half hour mark was played in behind the high Marseille back line for a free run at goal. The quickly retreating England U-21 defender CJ Egan-Riley recovered to make a desperate lunging challenge but he got it wrong and brought Fofana crashing to the ground. It was a stonewall red card, duly brandished by referee François Letexier.

The home side continued to apply the pressure and came close twice more through shots from Tessmann and the irrepressible Fofana before getting the ball in the Marseille net again in first half stoppage time. This time Maitland-Niles’ tap in from a corner was ruled out due to a perceived push on Rulli by Tessmann.

The half time interval gave Marseille a much needed chance to rest and reorganise. They were a much improved team in the second half and started to pose a threat on the counter attack. Lyon’s creativity was somewhat diminished in the 53rd minute when Fofana was forced off with an injured right-ankle and they had to reshuffle the pack, moving Abner onto the wing and bringing Nicolas Tagliafico on to play at left-back.

There was a major scare for Lyon midway through the second half when Marseille had their best chance of the game. A low cross from the left found Hamed Traoré free in the box and he improvised to flick the ball towards goal whilst facing the wrong way but fortunately Remy Descamps was equal to it.

There were visions of a repeat of the previous season’s nightmare scenario when Marseille also went down to ten men in the first half at the Groupama Stadium but contrived to win 3-2. Back then it was Balerdi who received his marching orders early on in the encounter. This time he was decisive at the death, but at the wrong end of the pitch from his perspective.

Time was running out when Karadec sent Tyler Morton towards the byline. His chipped cross was helped on by Tessmann towards the oncoming Tagliafico at the far post. His shot beat Rulli but came back off the bar, falling to fellow substitute Pavel Šulc. The Czech tried to finish from point blank range but his effort was blocked by Balerdi. However, the hapless Argentinian could only direct the ball into his own net as he tried to clear.

There was still time for one big chance at the other end when Højbjerg came close to a last gasp equaliser for Marseille, but Lyon held on for a deserved victory and a third clean sheet in as many games. They go into the international break extremely satisfied with their start to the season.

Pavel Šulc – Player Profile

Pavel Šulc has just enjoyed the season of his life. Lyon’s new €7.5 million signing from Viktoria Plzeň, won the prestigious Czech Golden Ball (Zlatý míč České republiky), becoming the first Czech based player to do so for ten years.

The award, which is given to the best Czech player of the season, was voted for by a panel of 45 Czech sport journalists over two rounds – one in late Autumn and a second in Spring. Šulc finished ahead of two previous winners in West Ham’s Tomáš Souček and Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick in the poll.

In winning the Golden Ball, the 24-year-old follows in the footsteps of luminaries such as Pavel Nedvěd, Patrik Berger, Tomáš Rosický and Petr Čech. That’s the calibre of player to have dominated this award since its inception in 1997 and if Šulc can reach anywhere close to their level then Lyon have got a real player on their hands.

Bohemian upbringing

Pavel Šulc was born in the spa city of Karlovy Vary in the west Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. He grew up playing youth football locally until he was scouted by Viktoria Plzeň aged ten and he joined their academy some 80 km to the south of his home town.

Šulc progressed steadily through the age groups, developing into a promising attacking midfielder. By 2017 he had caught the attention of the national team scouts and was included in the Czech Republic U-17 squad. He earned his first cap in a friendly against Belgium and went on to represent the U-18s several times the following season.

The 2018-19 season represented something of a breakthrough for Šulc. He began it in the Viktoria Plzeň U-19 team, who were competing in the UEFA Youth League. In a tough group, they came third behind Real Madrid and Roma but ahead of CSKA Moscow. Domestically, he was banging in the goals in the Dorostenecka liga (the top-tier youth football league in the Czech Republic), scoring 10 in 14 matches before the winter break.

Those performances earned him promotion to the first team squad and he featured in a couple of friendly matches during their January training camp before being sent out on loan to second division outfit Vysočina Jihlava to gain experience. He went straight into the first team there and helped sustain their promotion push during the second half of the campaign. They finished second but ultimately missed out on promotion via the play-offs.

Long list of loans

Šulc’s upward trajectory was also reflected on the international front where he became an automatic pick for the Czech U-19 team in European Championship qualifiers. He even made his debut for the U-21 side in a post-season friendly against neighbours Slovakia.

Once again there was no space to be found for Šulc in the Viktoria Plzeň squad for the 2019-20 campaign, so he was sent out on loan. Initially he wound up at SFC Opava, for whom he made his top flight debut aged eighteen on the opening day of the season. They won their first two matches but thereafter a 14 game winless run sent them tumbling to the bottom of the table.

He didn’t return there for the second half of the season as his parent club opted to recall him and re-loan him to Ceske Budejovice, who were competing at the right end of the table. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a hiatus in Czech football before he’d had a chance to really get going at his latest club. The league was suspended when he’d only made three substitute appearances for Ceske Budejovice.

Around ten weeks later it was deemed safe enough to resume the fixture list and Pavel Šulc soon found his way into the starting line-up. On the penultimate matchday he scored his first goals in the Fortuna Liga with a brace against Teplice. Ceske Budejovice finished seventh but missed out on Europa League qualification via the play-offs.

Still surplus to requirements in Plzeň, Šulc returned to South Bohemia for the beginning of the 2020-21 season, but his second loan spell with Ceske Budejovice was disrupted by injury and more Covid lockdowns so he only made four appearances. In January he returned to Plzen and finally got the chance to make his competitive debut for Viktoria.

Czech Champion

The team was struggling in the lower reaches of the table and they threw him straight into the starting line-up. Šulc responded with some stellar performances that helped sustain a long unbeaten run which saw them climb up to fifth by the end of the season. They also reached the Czech cup final but had to settle for runners-up medals, losing 1-0 to Slavia Prague.

Pavel Šulc had his first taste of international tournament football in early Spring 2021 when he represented the Czech U-21 team at the U-21 Euros in Slovenia. They drew with 1-1 with both Italy and their hosts before losing 2-0 to Spain in the crunch match and exiting the competition at the group stage.

Now aged twenty, Šulc began the 2021-22 campaign as a starter for Viktoria Plzeň and they negotiated two rounds of UEFA Europa Conference League qualification in the summer before losing out to CSKA Sofia at the final hurdle. They won their first four league games of the season but Šulc then found himself relegated to the substitutes bench following the arrival on loan of national team midfielder Jan Sýkora.

However, Šulc did continue to feature regularly off the bench during the closing stages of matches and he appeared in all but four games of the regular season campaign in which Plzeň finished second, one point behind Slavia Prague. That qualified them for the championship play-off and they stormed to the title with four wins and a draw in the six team mini tournament. It was the first major honour of Šulc’s career, although disappointingly he only featured in one of the play-off games.

Blossoming under Koubek

Viktoria Plzeň failed to defend their title the following season, and maybe that’s in part because their coach, Michal Bílek, still didn’t have faith in Pavel Šulc and sent him out on loan again. This time his destination was Jablonec, where he enjoyed his most prolific season to date, scoring five times as the club finished 11th in the table.

Post season there was another trip to the U-21 Euros, this time hosted in Georgia and Romania. Playing in Group C, the Czechs met eventual champions England in their opening fixture and lost 2-0. A 2-1 victory over Germany in the second game brought them back into contention but they lost 1-0 to Israel in the decider and again finished third in the group.

A change of coach at Viktoria Plzeň over the summer brought Miroslav Koubek to the helm for his third spell in charge at the club. He realised that Šulc was finally ready to step up the task of orchestrating their attacking play. Generally deployed as a number ten, Šulc responded with a breakout season in 2023-24. He played 49 times in all competitions and scored an incredible 22 goals, with eight assists to boot.

That stunning improvement helped carry Viktoria Plzeň to third place in league, to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League, and all the way to the Czech Cup final. That final was a memorable one for Šulc, but for the wrong reasons as he was sent off for a second yellow card in the 85th minute. They were a goal down to Slavia Prague at the time and they did equalise two minutes after his dismissal but conceded again in injury time, so a cup winner’s medal eluded him once more.

International debut

Of course, his eye-catching performances hadn’t one unnoticed by national team boss Ivan Hasek and Pavel Šulc made the natural progression from the U-21s to the full national squad when he received his first call-up in March 2024. His Czechia debut came in a 2-1 friendly win against Norway in Oslo where he played on the left side of the front line.

He was included in the squad for the Euro 2024 finals in Germany and started the opening Group F game against Portugal, playing 79 minutes of a 2-1 defeat. However, he was overlooked for their subsequent two matches and they failed to make it out of the group.

The question back home in Plzeň was whether he could repeat his impressive goalscoring form in the new season and maintain the high standard that he had set. The answer was emphatically yes. He was ever present for Viktoria Plzeň in their 2024-25 league and Europa League campaigns, making a total of 54 appearances, scoring 20 goals and recording 15 assists.

Those performances earnt him the Player of the Season accolade in the Czech First League (known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons), as well as the aforementioned Golden Ball. His 15 league goals made him second top scorer behind his former team mate Jan Kliment, now at Sigma Olomouc.

MUACOL Meetings and international goals

Four of his goals came in the Europa League, where they finished 16th in the league phase to qualify for the knockout rounds. Viktoria Plzeň won three and drew three of their league phase matches with their only two defeats coming at home to Manchester United and away to Athletic Club. They eventually went out against Lazio in the last 16 despite a Šulc strike temporarily giving them the lead in the second leg in Rome.

Šulc was by now established as a regular starter for the Czech national team and he helped them top Group 1 of the UEFA Nations League B in the autumn. His first international goals came in a 3-2 win against Ukraine in September. His third was the opener in the final group fixture, a 2-1 victory over Georgia in November in which his future Lyon team mate Georges Mikautadze scored for the visitors. Appearances in the World Cup qualifiers this spring took him to a total of 14 caps and 4 goals at the time of writing.

Move to Lyon

He began the 2025-26 season as a Viktoria Plzeň player and helped them get past Servette in Champions League qualifying. He got a goal and three assists in their opening two Chance Liga fixtures before the move to Olympique Lyonnais materialised. His Lyon debut came as a late substitute in the opening Ligue 1 game of the season away at Lens. He came off the bench at the same time as his compatriot Adam Karabec in a double substitution replacing Fofana and Mikautadze. Lyon held on to complete a 1-0 victory.

Pavel Šulc’s first start for Lyon came the following weekend at the Groupama stadium in a 3-0 win against Metz. He played on the right side of attack but regularly drifted infield to allow Maitland-Niles to overlap. It was some neat footwork and a pass from Šulc that allowed Fofana to open the scoring in the 25th minute, thus registering his first assist in French football.

A polyvalent player, he is comfortable on either side of the front line as well as playing in the centre as a conventional number ten. At twenty-four, he still has the potential to improve even further and will hopefully help to fill the massive hole left in the Lyon attack following Rayan Cherki’s departure to Manchester City during the summer.