Senegalese centre-back Moussa Niakhaté is not in Lyon’s 21-man squad to face Real Sociedad on Thursday in the Europa League, an absence described as a “surprise”.
Moussa Niakhaté will not be part of Lyon’s first outing under Jorge Maciel, the club’s interim head coach. The Senegalese international centre-back is missing from the 21-man squad called up to take on Real Sociedad on Thursday 5 November at 18:45, on matchday 4 of the Europa League, according to MadeinFoot.
An absence that raises questions. Le Progrès and Olympique-et-Lyonnais describe it as a “surprise”. The match is Lyon’s first since the departure of former coach Paulo Fonseca, who is on the verge of joining Sporting Portugal, and Maciel already has to make do with a depleted squad.
Nuamah also out as the list grows
Ernest Nuamah is also missing, according to MadeinFoot and But! Football Club. These two absences add to the list of unavailable players for the match and deepen the questions around this squad.
The long-term absentees, meanwhile, are already known: Loïs Openda (fracture of the right fibula), Mohamed Ouédraogo (cruciate ligaments), Pavel Sulc (meniscus in the right knee) and Tyler Morton are all ruled out. With Niakhaté and Nuamah, Maciel must therefore do without six members of his squad.
Maciel expected to address the matter
The exact nature of Niakhaté’s absence has not leaked. No official information allows anyone to say whether it is an injury, a suspension or a sporting decision. According to MadeinFoot, Jorge Maciel is expected to give details at a press conference on Wednesday evening, on the eve of the match.
That is when it will become clear whether the defender has a physical problem or whether it is another kind of decision. Maciel, who is in caretaker charge after Paulo Fonseca’s departure, must therefore answer questions about the absence of two players in his very first match on the Lyon bench, according to But!.
A fixture on Thursday at 18:45
Real Sociedad – Lyon will be played on Thursday 5 November at 18:45, on matchday 4 of the Europa League. The venue of the match is not specified in the report.
Until then, Jorge Maciel’s press conference on Wednesday evening should clarify the nature of the absences of Moussa Niakhaté and Ernest Nuamah, two players who, for one as for the other, are not in the Lyon squad for this European fixture.