Lyon’s recent performance paints a concerning picture. They are on track to finish outside the European spots for the third season in a row. Currently eighth in the table with only 41 points to their name, Lyon could finish below 10th, a stark contrast to their previous top-three finishes in four out of five seasons from 2014/15 to 2018/19.

The visualisation below shows Lyon’s points tally from the last 10 seasons and their recent downfall.

If you take out the 2019/20 campaign, when Ligue 1 was abandoned and never resumed due to the pandemic, the current season could be Lyon’s worst in recent years. Their best-ever points tally of the last 10 seasons came in 2017/18 when they ended up with 78 points and finished third — 15 points behind winners PSG.

During the 2020/21 season, when Lyon were completely out of Europe, they finished with 76 points, ending up fourth in the table. This secured them a spot in the UEFA Europa League in the following season and saw them go on to the quarter-finals. However, things started to slide in the 2021/22 campaign, and the French club have failed to finish higher than seventh in the two seasons since. They are currently on track to finish worse off than they did in the previous two seasons.

Lyon’s best finishes of the last 10 seasons came during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, when they finished second back-to-back.

Lyon have gone down the wrong route over the last few years and continue to hit new lows with each passing year. However, having been dead last in the league at one point this term, they now seem to have turned a corner.

Even if it isn’t enough for them to finish strong, Lyon are a team in form and will look to continue that. What they need now is stability before they can come out of mediocrity.