Lyon aim for five-star campaign

By Christian Chatelet

The French season starts for the 68th time on Friday with four-in-a-row champions Olympique Lyonnais chasing history and a bunch of potential spoilers in hot pursuit.

History beckons
Should they top the table on 13 May 2006, Lyon will become the first French side to win five successive titles. Goalkeeper Grégory Coupet and company are currently level with Olympique de Marseille (champions from 1989-92) and AS Saint-Etienne (1967-70) in the hall of fame.

Stability is key
"The title will be our main aim this season," said president Jean-Michel Aulas. Stability has proved Lyon's No1 asset as they have held sway over more turbulent rivals such as Paris Saint-Germain FC and Marseille. That recipe will not change, even with Aulas's confidence dented by the departure of coach Paul Le Guen just two days after the title was secured.

'Drive the car, not change it'
Former Liverpool FC and France boss Gérard Houllier has been asked by Aulas "to drive the Formula 1 car, not change it". "In any case, I don't feel young enough to revamp Lyon like I did Liverpool," said Houllier, 57. "And Lyon do not need a revamp, I'll just manage the legacy of my predecessors."

Essien doubt
With a month left in the transfer window, Lyon's biggest loss has been young forward Bryan Bergougnoux, now of Toulouse FC, but question marks remain over the future of Ligue 1 player of the season and Chelsea FC target Michael Essien.

Further reinforcements
Meanwhile, Houllier has bolstered his squad with €7.7m striker John Carew, Marseille midfielder Benoît Pedretti and defender Sylvain Monsoreau from FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

Continental success
Those four titles have not dampened the desire in the Lyon camp. Two consecutive appearances in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals have also whetted the appetite for continental glory and the overdue recognition a European triumph would provide.

Monaco target title
AS Monaco FC head the list of teams bidding to take Lyon's crown, sporting a crop of understated but important signings. "A good year is a year with a title," said coach Didier Deschamps, France's most prolific trophy-winner as a player but yet to break his duck as a coach.

Be prepared
Juventus FC's Olivier Kapo, FC Girondins de Bordeaux's Camel Meriem and €8m man Gerard Lopez from FC Barcelona have joined a side that finished third last term and is preparing for the Champions League third qualifying round. "We're not late like we were last year," said Deschamps, suggesting his squad was undercooked early in the 2004/05 season.

Kalou splash
Traditional rivals Marseille and PSG also have the talent to stop Lyon. The Parisiens prised France midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo from AC Milan, while spending €8.5m on the summer's costliest signing, AJ Auxerre playmaker Bonaventure Kalou.

Trouble and strife
Following a disappointing ninth-place finish, PSG have no European assignments to divert them from domestic duties. Conversely, Marseille's season kicked off on 16 July in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Like PSG, the Mediterranean team changed both coach and president in the course of last term as off-the-field issues wrecked their chances. Neither supposed giant of French football has lifted the title since 1994.

Debut goals
Marseille's big-name arrivals include RC Strasbourg striker Mamadou Niang, midfielder Franck Ribéry from Galatasaray SK and Sochaux's Wilson Oruma, who like Niang scored on his debut against Switzerland's BSC Young Boys.

Nomadic Lille
After the big four, or perhaps ahead of them, LOSC Lille Métropole will try to confirm their runners-up spot was no fluke. A 'homeless' side whose stadium redevelopment was halted for legal reasons, Lille's European games will be played either in nearby Lens or at the Stade de France. Swiss international winger Daniel Gygax is among the players attracted with coach Claude Puel's modest transfer kitty.

Taste of the action
This season's Ligue 1 newcomers are second division champions AS Nancy-Lorraine, Le Mans UC 72 and ES Troyes Aube Champagne, whose coach Jean-Marc Furlan gets his first taste of top-flight action.