Auxerre’s team paid tribute to Olympique Lyonnais’ clear superiority in the Sunday match, recognizing Lyon’s unequivocal domination. Despite the combativity of the AJA players, who fought decisively, the feeling of regret persists in opening the score on a controversial penalty. Lassine Sinayoko, although aware of the level gap, stressed the need for continuous improvement, while welcoming the opponent who was able to exploit the faults of the opposing team and prevent any real contestation of the result.

The point of major discord lies in the attribution of penalty, following an action found to be in dispute involving Donovan Leoni and Georges Mikautadze. The Auxerrois players argued that a bullet exit should have been whistled at a failed control of Saël Kumbedi, an argument that was not taken into account by referee Stephanie Frappart, whose decision was not questioned by the VAR. Jubal, the AJA captain, expressed his disagreement with this decision, considering that an intervention by the VAR could have been justified.

Despite a notable return effort, with the reduction of the score to 2-1 to 10 minutes of the term, the AJA failed to reverse the trend against an OL too much. The team acknowledged the difficulty of getting up after such a hard blow and admitted that the level gap was too large to hope for a different result. Defeat, though regrettable, is seen as a lesson for the future, reinforcing the need for constant improvement and greater vigilance in the face of defensive mistakes.