Lyon has confirmed the hiring of Paulo Fonseca as its new coach.
Fonseca is replacing Pierre Sage, who was fired despite leading the French league club out of a crisis last season and having the team within reach of a Champions League place in this campaign.
Sage’s dismissal on Tuesday followed a 1-1 draw with Nantes in Ligue 1 last weekend and left many observers perplexed. Sage had rapidly become a fans’ favorite after guiding Lyon from the bottom of the standings to a sixth-place finish last season.
The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Lyon had sealed a deal with Fonseca.
Fonseca's first match in charge will be against Marseille in the French league on Sunday, Lyon said.
Fonseca won the Portuguese Supercup with Porto in 2013 and the Portuguese Cup with Braga in 2016. He also coached Shakhtar Donetsk, where he won three league-cup doubles (2017, 2018, 2019) and the Ukrainian Supercup in 2017.
Paulo Fonseca then coached AS Roma between 2019 and 2021 before joining Lille in June 2022, where he built one of the best attacking and efficient sides in France despite operating on a limited budget. More recently, he was less successful at AC Milan, producing only 12 wins in 24 matches across all competitions.
Fonseca had been out of a job since he was fired by AC Milan on Dec. 30.
After 19 matches this season, Lyon is sixth in the league — just four points off a Champions League spot — and has qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League. Lyon, however, said the decision to part ways with Sage was a “sporting choice” after the Frenchman averaged fewer points per game this season and struggled against big rivals.
Lyon is owned by American businessman John Textor, who visited the club in person this week. He had been in regular contact with Fonseca in recent years and previously tried to hire him. Fonseca joins on a deal until the end of June 2027.
Lyon believes that Fonseca will be able to add defensive stability to the team and make it more competitive against the top four Ligue 1 teams. The club’s ambition is to qualify for the Champions League on a regular basis and to challenge Paris Saint-Germain’s supremacy.
“Paulo Fonseca and his staff will be tasked with starting a new cycle and taking the club to the highest level in the second half of the season, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for next season’s Champions League,” Lyon said.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press
