Diarra ruled out of Lyon plans
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Article summary
Olympique Lyonnais' French international midfielder Alou Diarra faces two months on the sidelines after sustaining a thigh injury in French League Cup action.
Article body
Muscle tear
The 25-year-old was stretchered off during the closing stages of Lyon's 1-0 semi-final win against Le Mans UC 72 last night having torn a muscle. Diarra had only been on the field for eleven minutes when he got injured. He will therefore miss the UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against Italian side AS Roma, to be staged on 21 February and 6 March.
Recent addition
Diarra, who joined Lyon from RC Lens at the start of the season, has made nine Ligue 1 appearances for Gérard Houllier's table-toppers as well as four in the UEFA Champions League. He was previously with FC Bayern München and Liverpool FC. Better news for Lyon is that Grégory Coupet, Sylvain Wiltord and Karim Benzema should all be fit to face Roma.