Many well-known faces play largely unnoticed by the German media abroad. In the sport.de limelight today: A former Bayern superstar has to fight for his regular place and an ex-Schalke player who is becoming the guarantor of the title.
Between 2000 and 2010, Olympique Lyon dominated French football: the club was champion seven times and never finished outside the top three. Then Paris Saint-Germain became the multi-million dollar toy of the Qatari rulers and Lyon lost its supremacy. Due to the performance in the 2019/20 season, they even missed out on qualifying for a European competition.
So that this does not happen again, Jérome Boateng, a real world star, was lured from FC Bayern to France in the summer of 2021. Instead of a return to success, however, there is now a risk of a historically poor performance. OL are currently only eighth in the Ligue 1 ranking, but if they stay that way, a low point is in the offing. At the end of a season you were last worse in 1995/96 (11th place).
And Boateng? The 33-year-old central defender, who has won nine German championships with FC Bayern, won the Champions League twice and won the 2014 World Cup with the DFB team, is far from being a top performer despite the difficult situation. After Boateng was still mostly set in 2021, coach Peter Bosz gave up the services of the veteran several times after the turn of the year (partly due to an inflammation of the shinbone). 19-year-old Castello Lukeba has meanwhile outstripped Boateng.
“Excessive claim to leadership” after leaving FC Bayern
To make matters worse, “L’Équipe” revealed in mid-February that Boateng, with his “excessive claim to leadership” and open criticism of his teammates, was offended by the fact that he was not in the squad against Nice, so he had disciplinary reasons. Significant: Lyon won 2-0 against the then third-placed team.
However, the trainer refuted rumors that there had been tension between Boateng and Bosz at the beginning of April: He maintains a “very good relationship” with Boateng, who “trains well”, according to the former BVB trainer. Shortly thereafter, he ordered Boateng back into the starting lineup. However, the defender did not exude confidence in the narrow 3-2 win against SCO Angers, and Boateng conceded the goal in the 1-1 draw against West Ham United in the Europa League – both times he had to vacate his place before the final whistle.
Lyon proved that things would be better without Germany’s Footballer of the Year 2016 last matchday when Girondins Bordeaux were swept off the pitch 6-1. Bosz only allowed Boateng a few minutes in the unimportant final phase.
How Boateng will continue is written in the stars. His contract in Lyon ends in 2023, should Olympique miss the international stage again, Boateng’s quite lavish salary should become a problem for the club.
Ex-Schalke on course for the title
Things are going much better for a striker who once tried his luck at FC Schalke 04 in vain. Bernhard Tekpetey played three games for the S04 pros in 2016/17, but was not able to commit himself. A loan to the Austrian first division club SCR Altach was followed by a convincing engagement at SC Paderborn, which flushed Tekpetey back into the ranks of FC Schalke 04. However, the Ghanaian didn’t get a real chance on the second attempt either.
In the meantime, however, many a Schalke player should look enviously towards Tekpetey. While the Knappen in the 2nd Bundesliga are fighting for a return to the German football league, Tekpetey even played in the CL qualifiers and in the Europa League with the Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad in 2021/22.
Things are going like clockwork in the league too: The club is about to defend its title from last season – also thanks to nine goals and seven assists by Tekpetey. The 24-year-old achieved his own masterpiece last weekend. In the 4-1 win against Slavia Sofia, the attacker scored two goals and one assist.
So the move to the supposed football province of Bulgaria is paying off for Tekpetey. In 2022/23 you should get another chance to qualify for the Champions League. You can only dream of that at FC Schalke 04.
Marc Affeldt