Olympique Lyonnais face Real Sociedad with two key players missing

Olympique Lyonnais travel to San Sebastián on Thursday at 18:45 for their Europa League group‑stage encounter with Real Sociedad, while interim boss Jorge Maciel steps in for Paulo Fonseca, whose imminent move to Sporting Portugal leaves the Gones under pressure.

Jorge Maciel has announced a 21‑man squad for the Europa League (Ligue Europa) match against Real Sociedad. Olympique Lyonnais will depart on Thursday at 18:45 to play the fourth group‑stage game at the Real Sociedad stadium. The fixture is notable for the Gones as it will be their first without Paulo Fonseca on the bench, the Portuguese coach being set to join Sporting Portugal.

Moussa Niakhaté and Ernest Nuamah are among the surprising absences from the travelling party. With Fonseca unavailable, his former assistant Jorge Maciel will act as interim manager for the European away tie. Fonseca’s original 21‑player list highlighted the missing Niakhaté and Nuamah, the latter having scored the winning goal in Sunday’s 1‑0 victory over Angers.

Four further players – Mohamed Ouédraogo, Tyler Morton, Pavel Sulc and Loïs Openda – are sidelined through injury. Among the youngsters called up are Thiago Gonçalves, Adil Hamdani and Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez. The full squad reads: Greif, Bengui, Descamps – Tagliafico, Athekame, Abner, Bacher, Kluivert, Mata, Kamara – Bidstup, Tessmann, Tolisso, Merah, Gonçalves, Nartey – Nakamura, Duranville, Boudache, Rodriguez, Hamdani.