The Olympique Lyonnais (OL) receives this Wednesday the RWDM Brussels, another club belonging to the Eagle Football Holding group, in a friendly match that marks the return of Paulo Fonseca to the controls. The Portuguese coach, suspended for friendly matches, will take advantage of this meeting to evaluate the Lyon squad, which should display a composition different from that aligned in the previous match. This meeting will also reveal new talents such as Enzo Molebeet, Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez and the newly recruited Portuguese international U20, Afonso Moreira. The RWDM Brussels, meanwhile, presents itself with seven new recruits and the absence of a coach, led by the director of the academy, Nicolas Baquet. Despite this, the Belgian club has already played two friendly games in pre-season.

At the same time, the situation of Crystal Palace, a club also linked to John Textor, owner of Eagle Football Holding, remains tense. OL, thanks to its qualification in the Europa League, was deprived of a place in favour of Crystal Palace, a decision contested by the latter. The English club filed an appeal with the Tribunal Arbitral du Sport (TAS) challenging this exclusion, arguing that it was unfair. This situation echoes the financial difficulties encountered by OL, which led to an administrative demotion in Ligue 2. The National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) was forced to impose severe measures to ensure the survival of the club, notably due to John Textor’s lack of investment.

This meeting between OL and RWDM Brussels is therefore a special moment, marked by the presence of John Textor, who became persona non grata in France and Belgium. RWDM supporters expressed dissatisfaction with Textor’s management of the club, which they consider to be a “dubble” of the Eagle group. Despite past difficulties, some players such as Mohamed El Arouch and Ashraf Laaziri, who had shone during the cooperation between OL and RWDM, hope to take advantage of this new phase to recover. This meeting is therefore an opportunity for both teams to measure and demonstrate their qualities, while highlighting the consequences of John Textor’s controversial management on the entire Eagle Football Holding group.