Lyon have a new homegrown hero in Maxence Caqueret

10-Aug-2020 12:03:52 | The Guardian

Rudi Garcia left two of Lyon’s most expensive signings on the bench against Juventus to play an academy graduate. It worked

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

“Amazing in midfield,” said Le Parisien; “At 20, we could hardly expect more from such a match,” raved L’Équipe; France Football suggested that Maxence Caqueret was “inexhaustable.” Even the normally taciturn Rudi Garcia, whose reign at Lyon has been too often marked by fissures in the dressing room and questionable choices in both tactics and personnel, was unstinting in his praise. “He is mature despite his young age,” said Garcia. “He is carefree. He plays not for himself, but to make the team better. Everyone is to be congratulated, but this kid is especially to be congratulated.”

Garcia was faced with several difficult decisions before Lyon took on Juventus for a place in the Champions League quarter-finals. Having won the home leg of the tie 1-0 in February, he could have been tempted to stick with the same formula. But the return to fitness of Jeff Reine-Adélaïde and Memphis Depay – as well as the departure of Martin Terrier, who played for Lyon in the first leg but joined Rennes last month, meant he needed to introduce some changes.

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Lyon have a new homegrown hero in Maxence Caqueret