Maxwel Cornet has urged Olympique Lyonnais to show "the same desire and determination as in the Champions League" as the 2019/20 European semi-finalists bid to kickstart their sluggish start to the season at home to Nîmes Olympique on Friday.
OL finished seventh last season, but were surprise invitees to the European elite's exclusive party as the UEFA Champions League reached its final stages, first beating Juventus in the Round of 16 to reach Lisbon's 'Final 8' and then seeing off Manchester City before falling to eventual winners Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
After a short break, OL attacked the new campaign with a promising 4-1 win over Dijon FCO, but they have since faded, registering a goalless draw against Girondins de Bordeaux before losing at Montpellier Hérault SC 2-1 on Tuesday in their rescheduled Round 1 fixture.
"We're coming out of that game very frustrated. I think we could have come back with three points. If we had put away our first-half chances, it wouldn't have been the same game. We weren't clinical enough," said Cornet, who saw teammate and captain for the game Houssem Aouar sent off in the first half at the Stade de la Mosson et du Mondial '98.
WATCH: Lyon make a winning return to domestic duty against Dijon
"We have to be more demanding of ourselves, we have the talent for that. We have to have the same desire and determination as in the Champions League in every game. We have to show that attitude in the league. We all would have liked to have started in the best possible way.
"Unfortunately, that's not the case, but we're not the only team to have started badly. It's up to us to be aware not to drop points that could cost us dearly at the end of the season. We're going to have to get our start to the season in hand."
Lyon go in search of a precious three points and a fourth succesive win over Nîmes without the suspended Aouar, but also Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, who has a calf injury, and Bertrand Traoré, who is expected to sign for English Premier League side Aston Villa on Friday.
Memphis Depay came off the bench to score his fourth goal of the season — and third penalty — against Montpellier to take his tally to nine in his last eight appearances in the French top flight.
The Netherlands international's future at OL is uncertain, but he could feature at the Groupama Stadium as the seven-time champions look to ally accuracy to the trigger-happiness that has seen them pepper opponents with shots for the scant reward of a solitary goal.
"We've had 40 shots in the last two matches, which shows that we're creating opportunities, and Houssem struck a post against Bordeaux," said Cornet. "As Maxwel highlighted, we've had 40 shots, which shows we've attacked a lot," added coach Rudi Garcia. "But we have to be less individual and more collective, we have to link up more."
WATCH: Nîmes roar into 2020-21 against Brest
Following their stunning 4-0 defeat of Stade Brestois on the opening day of the new season, Nîmes have suffered back-to-back losses to FC Nantes and Stade Rennais FC, and their boss, Jérôme Arpinon, has not been helped by injuries ahead of the trip to Lyon.
The influential Romain Philippoteaux is a doubt due to a back problem, while Pablo Martinez (groin), Birger Meling (knee), Moussa Koné (thigh) and Lucas Deaux (calf) are definitely out. On the plus side, captain Anthony Briançon and striker Nolan Roux, who were substitutes against Rennes after recovering from COVID-19, are likely to start in a bid to prevent Lyon fulfilling their ambition of picking up all three points.
"We absolutely have to win against Nîmes," acknowledged Garcia. "They're a team that has scored goals in each of the games they've played, but they've lost their last two.
"We have to respect our opponents and play to our best. Thanks to the five substitutions, the rhythm of games isn't necessarily a problem. The key thing will be to beat Nîmes in our own stadium."
Probable teams
Lyon: to follow
Nîmes: to follow
