HSV beaten 4-0 by Olympique Lyon

Clinical finishing from the visitors

Following a lively Volksparkfestival attended by around 20,000 HSV fans, the friendly against Olympique Lyon provided the sporting highlight of the season opening event. Head coach Merlin Polzin lined up his side in a 5-2-3 formation for the extended 120-minute match against last season’s sixth-placed side in Ligue 1. The Rothosen started brightly, making good use of the wide areas, with Königsdörffer and Capaldo getting early looks at goal. Despite the positive start, it was Lyon who struck first. After a poorly cleared free-kick, Fofana was quickest to react and slotted in from close range to make it 1-0. The French side gradually took control, carving out further chances through Mikautadze (22’) and captain Tolisso (24’). Heuer Fernandes denied the Georgian striker from 12 yards, while 2018 World Cup winner Tolisso fired over from distance. At the other end, Philippe tried his luck from 35 metres, drawing applause from the crowd despite missing the target (26’).

After a short drinks break, Lyon doubled their lead. Tolisso’s long ball from midfield took a fortunate deflection into the path of the lightning-quick Maitland-Niles, who finished calmly at the near post to make it 2-0 (31’). The Europa League participants showed their quality again in the 39th minute with a smooth move down the left, ending with Mikautadze firing in a third. HSV responded well and created their best chance of the half shortly before the break. Muheim’s free-kick delivery found captain Schonlau, whose header was brilliantly saved by Descamps (43’). Moments later, Schonlau again threatened from a Dompé corner, but this time headed too centrally. The teams went in at half time with the score 3-0 to Lyon.

Plenty of changes after the break

Both coaches changed their whole XI at half time, with Polzin giving debuts to new signings Yussuf Poulsen and Daniel Peretz. The latter had little to do early on, watching on as Hefti fired the first shot of the half from the edge of the box. It took some time for the 22 fresh players to settle into the game, but HSV found their rhythm quicker and dominated possession without creating many clear-cut chances. Around the 75-minute mark, Sahiti produced a technically impressive and powerful volley, forcing Diarra into a superb diving save.

Following another drinks break after 90 minutes, both coaches made more substitutions. Jatta came on for HSV and immediately whipped in a superb cross to the back post, where Rössing-Lelesiit met it with a header, only to be denied by Diarra once again. HSV continued to push but couldn’t find the breakthrough. Lyon, in contrast, remained dangerous on the counter and struck again with their first real chance of the second half. Moreira finished off a quick break with help from the inside of the right post to make it 4-0 (95’). HSV kept battling and created further chances through Glatzel and Sahiti. Youngster Stange also tested Diarra from a tight angle late on. The Rothosen thought they had finally found the net when Glatzel turned in a rebound, only for the assistant’s flag to go up for offside – a moment that summed up HSV’s afternoon. The match ended 4-0 to Lyon, a valuable test against top-level European opposition.

“We deliberately designed our pre-season so that we’d face top-level opposition every week and be shown where we still need to improve in order to compete in the Bundesliga. That’s why today’s test was very useful in highlighting the areas we want – and need – to keep working on over the coming weeks. There were a lot of things that already looked good in phases, but where we still have room to improve over 60 or 90 minutes,” said Polzin at the end of what had been a busy day.