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Ligue 1 Team Of The Week: Round 13

Goal.com’s Robin Bairner rifles through the best players in Le Championnat over the weekend, with Sunday performers Lille, Marseille and Lyon featuring prominently…

Nov 9, 2009 10:00:15 AM

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Ligue 1 : Lisandro Lopez (Lyon)

Teams

Formation: 4-3-3

Goalkeeper

Jeremie Janot (Saint-Etienne): His error may have cost les Verts in the Rhone Derby against Olympique Lyonnais only a week earlier, but the enigmatic custodian bounced back to his very best on Saturday evening against Nancy. Made a handful of excellent saves to keep his side in the game, allowing them to counter and win through Dimitri Payet’s second half haymaker.

Defence

Christophe Jallet (Paris Saint-Germain): Has spent much of the season operating as a right-sided midfielder, and on Saturday against Nice he played like one for long spells, getting forward effectively and delivering several dangerous crosses into the box. It was certainly not for his lack of effort that PSG drew a blank and ultimately lost out.

Adil Rami (Lille): Is becoming something of a semi-regular in the Team of the Week, this time impressing greatly against Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday. Laurent Blanc’s men were not their usual attacking selves, and Rami’s strong performance on Marouane Chamakh was a large reason for that. His contribution was telling in LOSC’s 2-0 win.

Jean-Pascal Mignot (Auxerre): AJA may have ridden their luck somewhat to keep a clean sheet against Le Mans on Saturday evening, but Mignot was a rock in the heart of their rearguard. Made several timely challenges and can be very pleased with his overall contribution.

Aly Cissokho (Olympique Lyonnais): Perhaps a surprising choice given that OL leaked five goals in their madcap draw against Olympique de Marseille on Sunday night, but fault could not be attributed to the left-back for any of les Phoceens’ strikes. Raided forward well and delivered a number of excellent crosses into the box. Definitely Ligue 1’s outstanding left-sided full-back.

Midfield

Morgan Amalfitano (Lorient): Was strongly linked with a summer move to Bordeaux, the midfielder produced one of his best performances of the season against Boulogne-Sur-Mer on Saturday evening. Ran play from the middle of the field, scoring a deserved goal in stoppage time to round off a highly satisfactory 5-0 success for Christian Gourcuff’s men.

Yohan Cabaye (Lille): Another central player who was tipped to switch to the Stade Chaban-Delmas in the summer, Cabaye’s role on Sunday was largely as the architect of Bordeaux’s destruction. Les Dogues would run out 2-0 victors against the champions and league leaders, and it was Cabaye who dictated the pace of the game. Moreover, it was he who struck the opening blow.

Miralem Pjanic (Olympique Lyonnais): The young Bosnian produced some moments of real class against Marseille. He was frequently ready to spring into attack, and his on-the-toes attitude was summed up by the way he raced onto a loose ball and smacked the opening goal of the game with just a few seconds on the clock. His pass to set up Michel Bastos’ goal to put Lyon 5-4 up in stoppage time deserved to be a match-winner: it was world class.

Attack

Bakari Kone (Olympique de Marseille): In the festival of attacking football at Stade Gerland on Sunday evening, Kone proved to be OM’s best weapon. He exploded into life in the second half, scoring a terrific half volley just three minutes after the break to spark les Phoceens into their stride.

Kevin Gameiro (Lorient): Struck his sixth and seventh goals of the season in Lorient’s emphatic 5-0 success over Boulogne. Les Merlus are riding high in fifth place in Ligue 1, and they owe much of their success to the 23-year-old’s productivity. With six goals and four assists, he should be considered one of Le Championnat’s best forwards. He was typically central to everything his side did against USBCO.

Lisandro Lopez (Olympique Lyonnais): A superb performance from the Argentine, who couldn’t quite inspire OL to victory on Sunday. Tireless even without possession, it is easy to see why the former Porto man is a favourite of the Lyon crowd. His finish to bring les Gones back to 4-3 against Marseille was of the very highest order and his penalty moments later was also immensely precise. Another great showing.

Janot

Jallet   Rami   Mignot   Cissokho

Amalfitano   Cabaye   Pjanic

Kone   Gameiro   Lisandro

Do you agree with this selection? Perhaps you think the attacking players of Lyon and Marseille deserve more of a representation after their dumbfounding 5-5 draw on Sunday night? Goal.com wants to know what you think…

Robin Bairner, Goal.com

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