"Today, I say goodbye to Olympique Lyonnais, and it is much more difficult than I ever imagined," Paulo Fonseca said in a farewell message to Relevo. Lyon confirmed his move to Sporting CP and will receive €5 million in compensation, but the more immediate issue is who leads them in San Sebastián. Jorge Maciel, 41, has taken over as interim coach.

Lyon's disruption before Anoeta

The squad problems do not stop at the touchline. Pavel Šulc is out, even though he has already posted 11 goals and 3 assists in Ligue 1 this season, and Lyon also arrive with other issues hanging over their attack. That leaves this Europa League trip looking more awkward than it should have been for a side that still has six points from three matches.

Lyon are 13th in the Europa League table in one set of standings, while Real Sociedad are 14th with four points from three matches. The split in ranking is small, but the gap in mood is not. Lyon won 2-0 in their last away league game at Paris Saint Germain, yet the coaching change and the missing personnel make that result hard to use as a clean guide.

Real Sociedad's opening and Lyon's task

Real Sociedad's own European return has been mixed, with a 1-1-1 record and a recent 2-1 home win over Levante behind them. They also have a home tie at Anoeta to lean on, which is a decent platform against a visiting side still settling after a sudden coaching handover.

Aperribay was still talking about the disputed penalty and the failed chip at San Mamés, saying: "We left San Mamés convinced that it was not a penalty, without anyone telling us that the chip had not worked." That frustration belongs to a separate issue, but it shows the mood around the club is not exactly calm either.

Arsen Zakharyan and Alex Marchal are both named in the wider build-up around this fixture, but Lyon's own uncertainty is the sharper story. The match itself is still only a league-stage game, yet the visitors turn up with a new interim coach, a missing attacking piece and an abrupt change on the sideline.

The one concrete thing to watch is whether Maciel can keep Lyon steady enough to make their six points from three matches count on Thursday night in the match between Real Sociedad and Lyon.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →