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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.

Lyon 3-0 Metz

Paulo Fonseca made just one change to the line-up that beat Lens 1-0 on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Ligue 1 season. Sael Kumbedi dropped to the bench, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles moving back into the right-back position and new signing Pavel Šulc coming into the team on the right side of attack to make his first start for his new club.

The Lyon supporters paid tribute to club legend Bernard Lacombe before kick off, with a large tifo and numerous banners in the stands. It was the fist home match since the former striker passed away during the summer aged 72. Lacombe, who scored 123 goals in 222 appearances for the club also served as manager and advisor to the board for many years,

It was a scrappy start to the game, with Lyon initially unable to gain control and dominate possession of the ball. Both teams had chances to open the scoring and Mikautadze came close against his former club but shot straight at the ‘keeper with his weaker left foot.

It was the home side who did break the deadlock in the 25th minute when Šulc rode a challenge and carried the ball into the Metz box where he fed Malick Fofana. The Belgian jinked past his man and slotted the ball confidently past Fischer in the Metz goal.

It didn’t take long for them to double their advantage. Tyler Morton played a superb ball through to Maitland-Niles, who had made a perfectly timed run in behind the Metz left-back. He, in turn, sent an inviting low cross along the edge of the six-yard box, which Corentin Tolisso stroked into the net.

Lyon looked more comfortable in the second half and there was never much suggestion that Metz would get back into the game. Morton tested Fischer from long range and Mikautadze had another chance but hit his shot too tamely. He made the ‘keeper work harder with a diving header after more good work by Fofana down the left.

The result was finally put beyond doubt in the 83rd minute when another Morton ball into the box caused panic in the Metz defence. Tessmann’s header was tipped onto the bar and rebounded into the danger zone where substitute Adam Karabec pounced to finish from close range. It was the Czech winger’s first goal for the club. All that remained was for new signings Ruben Kluivert and Afonso Moreira to come off the bench for their debuts.

The result leaves Lyon top of the Ligue 1 table on goal difference after the first two matchdays. Three other clubs have also won their opening two fixtures (Toulouse, PSG & Strasbourg). Next time out, Lyon will host Marseille at the Groupama Stadium.

Links

Olympique Lyonnais 2025-26 season results

Khalis Merah – Player Profile

Khalis Merah is a graduate from the esteemed Olympique Lyonnais academy. Following in the footsteps of numerous stars to have emerged from their ranks over the years, he hopes to be the latest ‘Gone‘ to make a name for himself. The midfielder made his first team debut in the opening game of the 2025-26 season and looks to have a bright future ahead of him.

Merah was born in 2007 in Meyzieu, around 13 km east of Lyon city centre. Some five years later, construction work began on a new stadium at a nearby site between Meyzieu and neighbouring Décines-Charpieu. As the youngster watched the stadium slowly take shape, he and his team mates at US Meyzieu dared to dream that they might one day play there.

Shortly before his ninth birthday, the shiny new Groupama Stadium opened and Olympique Lyonnais moved in. By this time, Merah had already developed into a very promising young player and news of his talent had reached the scouting department at OL. They recruited him into their academy the following summer and his dream came a step closer.

Youth football with Lyon and France

Jump forward another seven years and things are still progressing well. In March 2023, just twelve days after his 16th birthday, Khalis Merah made his debut for the France U-16 team. He played in two friendlies against the Luxembourg U-16s at Clairefontaine, winning the first 1-0 and drawing the second 1-1.

The following season, Merah started to feature in the Lyon U-19 team playing in the Championnat National U19 and Coupe Gambardella. He soon became a regular starter and was even entrusted with the captain’s armband. He added goals to his game in the 2024-25 season with the U-19s, scoring five times in the Championnat National U19 and in February 2025, on his 18th birthday, he was offered and signed a professional contract with Lyon.

At the end of that season, he made his debut for the Lyon reserve team playing in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of the French football pyramid. Technically gifted but physically frail, it was a big step up and Lyon lost all four matches in which he featured. However, he has the football intelligence to find pockets of space and lose his markers, thus minimising the number of physical duels that he has to face during a game.

Merah obviously caught the eye of Lyon first team coach Paulo Fonseca, because he was promoted to the first team squad ahead of the 2025-26 campaign and was included in the party that travelled to the training camp in Austria. He impressed during a series of pre-season friendlies and earned a place on the bench for the opening Ligue 1 game of the season away at Lens.

Debut delight

His first team debut came in that match at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on the 16th of August 2025. With Lyon leading 1-0, he came off the bench in the 66th minute to replace Saël Kumbedi and occupy a position on the right side of the front three. It took him a while to settle into the frenetic pace of the game, but once he’d had a few touches of the ball he stated to gain confidence and look at home at this level.

As full time approached and Lyon clung onto their lead, he proved to be a valuable outlet, dropping off his marker to receive balls out from the defence and launch counter attacks. Lyon held on through six minutes of stoppage time to make it a winning start to life in Ligue 1 for Khalis Merah. It may yet be some time until he commands a starting place in the Lyon XI, but he’s already shown that he can make a valuable contribution from the bench and has a bright future ahead of him.

It surely won’t be long until the stadium that he saw being built becomes the stage where his precocious talent will be on show. And who knows, maybe he’ll follow in the footsteps of some of the illustrious Franco-Algerian prodigies to have emerged from the fabled Lyon youth system in recent years and make it to the very top. The likes of Karim Benzema, Nabil Fekir and Rayan Cherki have blazed a trail for him to follow.

Tyler Morton – Player Profile

Tyler Morton is a defensive central midfielder who was born and raised on Merseyside. He grew up supporting local giants Liverpool and joined their academy in 2009 at just seven years old. Liverpool scouts spotted him playing for the Greenleas junior team in his home town of Wallasey and he jumped at the chance to sign for his idols.

A decade later, having progressed steadily through the ranks, Morton made his debut for the Liverpool U-18 team and scored a goal in his third appearance, a 6-1 hammering of Everton. He soon established himself as a regular starter in the U18 Premier League and UEFA Youth League, although the season was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Youth Cup Runner Up

Tyler Morton began the 2020-21 season in the U-18s, but soon moved up a level. His final match in the U18 Premier League was a 4-3 defeat away to Manchester United in early December in which he got a goal and an assist. By then, he had already made his debut for the Liverpool U-23 team and he instantly looked comfortable at that level, scoring five goals in his first seven Premier League 2 outings, including one in a 6-3 home defeat to United.

Morton continued to feature in the U-18s for the duration of their FA Youth Cup campaign that season, and scored the only goal of the game when they put out Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village in the Fourth Round. Their cup run took them all the way to the final where they faced Aston Villa at Villa Park. Liverpool went behind to two early goals and, although they did pull one back in the second half, they had to settle for runners-up medals.

First Team Football

The 2021-22 season was a busy one for Tyler Morton as he continued to represent the U-23 team regularly but also started to feature in the first team squad and received an international call-up. His Liverpool debut came as a half-time substitute in a League Cup Third Round match away at Norwich City. He replaced Naby Keïta with the score at 1-0 to the Reds and they went on to win 3-0.

His first start came in the following round in a 2-0 win at Preston and he also featured in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out victory against Leicester City. Morton was on the bench for both legs of the semi-final against Arsenal but didn’t make the squad for the final in which Liverpool overcame Chelsea on penalties.

By then he had also made his Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League debuts. Having spent two matches on the bench, he got his first taste of Premier League action as a late substitute in a 4-0 win over Arsenal at Anfield. He made one other Premier League appearance that season, starting in a 2-2 draw away at Spurs. In the Champions League he played the entirety of Liverpool’s final two group games against Porto and Milan once they had already wrapped up qualification with a perfect record.

As he had done in the League Cup, Morton played in some of the early rounds of the FA Cup but wasn’t involved in the final stages as Liverpool went on to secure a cup double with another penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea in the final. In total he made nine senior appearances for the Reds in that breakthrough season.

International Taster

The England call-up came in November 2021 when manager Andy Edwards invited him into the U-20 squad for an Elite League match against Portugal. He came off the bench to replace Dan Neil in the 74th minute of a 2-0 defeat in Leiria. Morton was involved again in March 2022 when he made his first start in a 2-0 defeat to Poland and then played the last few minutes of a 3-1 win against Germany in Colchester.

Loan Spells for Game Time

In the summer of 2022 Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp decided that a loan move would be best for Tyler Morton’s ongoing development, so he joined Blackburn Rovers for a season on Championship football. After a handful of substitute appearances, Morton nailed down a regular staring place at Ewood Park under Jon Dahl Tomasson as Rovers chased a spot in the play-offs. Whilst at Blackburn, he received his first call-up to Lee Carsley’s England U-21 squad, but didn’t get any playing time for them.

The 2023-24 season followed a similar pattern with Hull City this time being the grateful recipients of his services on loan from Liverpool. Morton quickly established himself at the heart of their midfield as they chased, but ultimately missed out on, a place in the play-offs. He did make his England U-21 debut this time around, as a substitute for James McAtee in a 3-0 win at Serbia in an U-21 Euros qualification match. He scored and assisted on his first start, a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland at Goodison Park three days later. No doubt many of his friends and family would have made the short trip across the Mersey from Wallasey to see him play in that one.

Following several years of solid progress, the 2024-25 season back at Liverpool under new manager Arne Slot was something of a disappointment for Tyler Morton. He only made five senior appearances totalling just 261 minutes of action. He didn’t feature at all in the Premier League as the Reds romped home to their 20th league title.

European Glory

Fortunately he remained part of Carsley’s England U-21 plans and had the UEFA European Under-21 Championships in Slovakia to look forward to at the end of the season. He was deployed as a substitute in each of England’s three Group B games as they qualified for the knockout phase in second place behind Germany.

The quarter-finals pitted the Three Lions against a much fancied Spain team and Morton was given the nod in central midfield alongside Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. England raced into an early 2-0 lead but their advantage was halved shortly before the interval. They had to endure some intense Spanish pressure during the second period, but defended resolutely and ultimately wrapped up the tie with a late penalty. Unfortunately for Morton, he picked up his second booking of the tournament, which ruled him out of the semi-final against the Netherlands.

His team mates did the business in his absence and he returned to the squad for the final against Germany at the Tehelné Pole stadium in Bratislava. He watched from the bench as England again took a 2-0 lead and was then called into the action somewhat earlier than anticipated due to an injury to Alex Scott in the 44th minute. No sooner had Morton joined the fray than Germany pulled a goal back in first half stoppage time.

England held onto their 2-1 lead until the hour mark when they were pegged back by the Germans and a stalemate endured until the final whistle. Morton made his most telling contribution of the tournament just two minutes into extra time when his cross from the right found Jonathan Rowe free in the box. The Marseille forward stooped to head home the winner and England retained their European U-21 title after seeing out a nervy last half hour.

A Bright Future

That tournament win ranks as Tyler Morton’s most significant achievement to date and his performances put him in the shop window for a move away from Liverpool in the aftermath of the finals. With first team opportunities likely to be at a premium under Arne Slot, Morton was open to offers and he eventually opted to accept one from Olympique Lyonnais as they looked to rebuild following several high profile departures.

He transferred to Lyon for a fee of €10 million which could rise as high as €15 million if the conditions for various add-ons are subsequently met. Liverpool stand to net 20% of any future sell-on fee from Lyon. Central midfielders Jordan Veretout and Nemanja Matic both left Lyon during the same transfer window, so the path was clear for Morton to stake his claim to a place in the first XI. He impressed during pre-season, so coach Paulo Fonseca handed him a debut in the opening Ligue 1 fixture away at Lens.

Morton played the full ninety minutes of that 1-0 win alongside Tanner Tessmann in defensive midfield and looked assured in his new environment. He was entrusted with taking corner kicks and some free-kicks and offered some much needed creativity in the centre of the park. His tackling and distribution skills look set to be a real asset for Lyon over the coming season.

Athletic Club edge thriller v Sevilla

Athletic Club got their La Liga season off to a fine start with a thrilling 3-2 win against Sevilla at the San Mamés Barria. Los Leones put their miserable pre-season form firmly behind them in front of 49,134 raucous home fans despite a strong fight-back from the visitors in the second half.

Nico Williams, who turned down the overtures of Barcelona during the summer and opted to sign a new long-term deal with Athletic, was the star of the show. However, it was Sevilla who created the first opening inside the first five minutes when left winger Stanis Idumbo-Muzambo slipped the ball through to Akor Adams. The Nigerian striker hit a low shot at Unai Simón and the Spanish international goalkeeper parried it away.

Adams did have the ball in the net just before the half hour mark, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. The deadlock was broken a few minutes later when Williams got in behind his marker and went down inside the area to earn a highly dubious penalty. He stepped up himself to convert it and open his account for the season.

Williams turned creator just before half time when he outfoxed three defenders to wriggle into the box and cross for Maroan Sannadi to tap home from close range, making it 2-0 to Athletic. After the interval, the Nico Williams show carried on where it left off, with the forward striking a shot against the far post in the 50th minute.

However, the tide soon started to turn and Sevilla began to threaten once more. They got back into the game with a wonder strike from Belgian winger Dodi Lukébakio in the 60th minute. He picked up the ball in the inside right channel and worked it onto his left foot before hitting a screamer into the top corner from around 25 yards. An early contender for goal of the season.

Suddenly Sevilla had the wind in their sails and the Athletic Club defence started to wobble. Unai Simón was called upon several times to protect the lead but he was helpless in the 72nd minute when French midfielder Lucien Agoumé curled a shot in from the edge of the box after good work from Lukébakio and Juanlu Sánchez down the right.

Sevilla looked the more likely winners at that point, but Nico Williams wasn’t finished yet. Fed by his brother Iñaki, he broke down the right and reached the byline from where he lifted the ball towards substitute Robert Navarro who had lost his marker at the far post. The debutant hooked the ball back across goal and into the net to restore the lead for Athletic with just ten minutes of normal time remaining.

The home side managed to close out the game without any further scares and they’ll hope to make it two from two when they face Rayo Vallecano at San Mamés on matchday two of La Liga next weekend. That will be followed by a trip to Seville to face Real Betis before the international break.

Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal – opening day disappointment

Manchester United fell to a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Premier League season. Arsenal’s Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori headed in the only goal from point-blank range after United ‘keeper Altay Bayindir weakly flapped at a Declan Rice corner under his own crossbar in the 13th minute.

United manager Ruben Amorim handed debuts to big-money summer signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in attack, but it was left wing-back Patrick Dorgu who came closest to an equaliser in the first half when he hit the base of the post from just outside the box. Cunha also forced visiting goalkeeper David Raya into a couple of smart saves before the interval.

Manchester United continued to enjoy the lion’s share of the possession in the second half as they chased the game and Raya was the busier of the two ‘keepers. Mbeumo spurned a couple of chances before the other new signing, Slovenian centre-forward Benjamin Šeško, came off the bench for the final twenty-five minutes.

United continued to press and there was a potential penalty shout late on for a challenge by Saliba on Cunha, but ultimately the Arsenal defence held for and they took the three points back to London. Despite the scoreline, there were some positives to take from the United performance, but the pressure is already on and they need to start getting results sooner rather than later.

Lens 0-1 Lyon – OL off to a winning start

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.

Links

Olympique Lyonnais 2025-26 season results

World Cup Qualifiers: England face Andorra and Serbia in September

The qualification matches for FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico are due to resume in early September. England will face Group K minnows Andorra at Villa Park in Birmingham on Saturday the 6th of September followed by a tricky looking trip to Belgrade. There they will face Dragan Stojković’s Serbia at the Red Star stadium on Tuesday the 9th of September.

England currently sit top of Group K, having won all three of their opening fixtures including a 1-0 win away in Andorra last time out, back in June. They are yet to meet Serbia, who have a win and a draw from the two qualifiers that they have played to date. On paper, the Serbians could present the toughest test that England will face on the road to the finals.

England manager Thomas Tuchel only has three rounds of Premier League action in which to gauge the form of his players ahead of the September international break, so there are unlikely to be many surprises in his squad. Thus far in his tenure he has tended to plump for experience over experimenting with youngsters.

Tuchel did have a close eye on the England U-21 team that lifted the UEFA European U-21 Championships over the summer, so he’ll be well aware of the talent pool at his disposal. He’ll need to cast his eye far and wide across Europe’s top leagues this season as there are more Englishmen than ever before plying their trade overseas, and that can only be a good thing for player development.

Last night, for example, Olympique de Marseille kicked off their season with no fewer than four English players in their starting line-up for their trip to Rennes. U-21 winner Jonathan Rowe and last season’s Ligue 1 joint top scorer Mason Greenwood were joined by new signings Angel Gomes and CJ Egan-Riley. Gomes, who has four England caps, arrived on a free transfer from Lille and Egan-Riley came on a free from Burnley. CJ Egan-Riley was also part of the victorious U-21 squad.

It is a trend that is being repeated across the continent with the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) and Tyler Morton (Lyon) some of the other high profile England or England U-21 players to make the move abroad this summer.