Olympique Lyonnais will play in the second tier in France next season. The top club must be forcibly relegated as punishment for years of financial mismanagement, it was decided on Tuesday. Lyon can still appeal the ruling.
The relegation is a bitter pill for Lyon, who finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season. Five years ago, the seven-time national champion was still a semi-finalist in the Champions League. Memphis Depay was an important force in the team at the time.
Currently, there are no Dutch players active at Lyon. With Nicolás Tagliafico, Georges Mikautadze, and Nemanja Matic, the club does have three former Eredivisie players under contract. Other well-known names at Lyon include Corentin Tolisso, who became world champion with France in 2018, the Argentinian world champion Thiago Almada, and captain Alexandre Lacazette.