The 2011–12 season of

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

was the club's 53rd season in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. After a third-place finish last season, the club played in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

for the 12th consecutive season.

News

At the end of the 2010–11 season, fans had become dissatisfied with then manager

Claude Puel Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in char ...

, despite the club managing to finish in third place, synonymous with qualification to the UEFA Champions League Play-off round. However, due to poor results and a falling out with the club's hierarchy, he was sacked. He was replaced by former technical coach

Rémi Garde Rémi Garde (, born 3 April 1966) is a French former professional footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer. He played as a defender and defensive midfielder, spending most of his career with hi ...

, who announced his intentions to compete for the league title. On 17 June, Lyon announced the departure of midfielder

Jérémy Toulalan Jérémy Toulalan (born 10 September 1983) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder, but was also utilized as a Defender (association football)#Centre-b ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

for €10 million. During pre-season training,

Yoann Gourcuff Yoann Miguel Gourcuff (born 11 July 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. He could also be utilized as a withdrawn striker, and was described as a "playmaker of real quality" who "is an a ...

suffered another injury blow, this time to his left ankle, which required an operation keeping him out for at least a month. On 16 July, Brazilian midfielder Ederson was injured to the right knee during a pre-season match against

Racing Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four champ ...

after a collision with teammate

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Croatia national team. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to ...

. On 12 August Lyon announce the signing of Burkina Faso international defender

Bakary Koné Bakary Koné (, born 27 April 1988) is a Burkinabé former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Early career Koné played on youth side for CFTPK Abidjan and joined in 2004 to Etoile Filante where he began his pro ...

from

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guinga ...

for €2 million. On 27 August, during a match against

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, forward Lisandro López injured his ankle. It was originally feared that he had broken his ankle, as the striker believed he had heard a crack, but scans later allayed these fears. Nevertheless, the Argentine will be out for several weeks. On 30 August Lyon signed defender

Mouhamadou Dabo Mouhamadou Dabo (born 28 November 1986) is a French-Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a right-back, but has played left-back. He most recently played for Caen in Ligue 1. Club career Saint-Étienne Born in Dakar, Dabo began his ...

from

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

for a modest €1 million that could rise to €1.8 million if certain playing criteria are met. On summer transfer deadline day, Lyon announced the sale of Bosnian international midfielder

Miralem Pjanić Miralem Pjanić (born 2 April 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for UAE Pro League club Sharjah and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Pjanić started his professional career at Metz being there for one ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

for €11 million, and the arrival of midfielder

Gueïda Fofana Gueïda Fofana (; born 16 May 1991) is a former French footballer. He was a French youth international and has captained at all levels of youth. In 2010, he captained the France team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Champions ...

from

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

for €1.8 million, possibly rising to €2.6 million. On 28 September, the club announced that

Michel Bastos Michel Fernandes Bastos (born 2 August 1983) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who mainly played as a left winger. Bastos started his career at hometown club Pelotas before moving to the Netherlands, where he played for Feyenoord ...

had signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2015. On 30 March, the club issued a press release confirming that forward

Alexandre Lacazette Alexandre Lacazette (born 28 May 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for and is the captain of club Lyon. He plays mainly as a striker but has also been deployed as a second striker and wide forward. Lacazette b ...

had signed a contract extension until 2016, and that defender Samuel Umtiti had signed his first professional contract at the club. The latter deal comes after the young central defender's successful promotion into the club's first team in recent months.

Transfers

Summer in

Total spending: €4.8 million

Summer out

Total income: €21 million

Winter in

Winter out

Squad information

Club

Coaching staff

Other information

Pre-season

Competitions

Ligue 1

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Matches

Last updated: 20 May 2012
Source
Ligue 1
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Coupe de France

Coupe de la Ligue

UEFA Champions League

Play-off round

Group D

Knockout phase

=Round of 16

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

''Last updated on 5 June 2012.'' , - , colspan="14", ''Players sold/loaned after the start of the season:''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Olympique Lyonnais season Olympique Lyonnais seasons

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...