St Paulivs.Lyon

Lyon are warming up for their first full season under the watch of Pierre Sage, while St. Pauli are preparing for their first Bundesliga campaign since 2010-11.

Match preview

St. Pauli are looking forward to competing with Germany's elite after collecting 69 points from 34 matches to win the 2.Bundesliga title last season.

Unfortunately for the German club, they saw their promotion-winning head coach Fabian Hurzeler leave for Brighton & Hove Albion over the summer.

The newly-promoted side have decided to appoint Alexander Blessin as Hurzeler's successor, having been left impressed by his work at Belgium side Union SG last season.

Blessin guided Union SG to a second-place finish and ended the club's 110-year wait for the Belgian Cup after his side claimed a narrow 2-1 win over Royal Antwerp in May's final.

The St. Pauli boss saw his new team begin their pre-season schedule with a 3-1 win over Bremer SV, before they lost 3-1 in Friday's friendly against Greuther Furth - a match that was played over 120 minutes (4x30 minutes).

Blessin will now look for his side to build momentum over the next three friendlies against Lyon, Norwich City and Atalanta.

Sage is preparing for his first full season as Lyon boss after being rewarded with a two-year contract earlier this month.

The 45-year-old was initially appointed on an interim basis in November, before he was given the chance to lead the club until the end of the 2023-24 season.

Sage guided Lyon from the bottom of the table to a sixth-place finish, ensuring the club will be participating in the Europa League this season.

Les Gones also reached their first Coupe de France final in 12 years before falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

The French club began their preparations for the 2024-25 season with a 3-2 win over Austria outfit WSG Tirol on Friday.

Lyon will now turn their focus to three friendlies against St. Pauli, Torino and Union Berlin, before they travel to the Emirates Stadium for a meeting with Arsenal.

St Pauli friendly form:

L

Lyon friendly form:

W

Team News

St. Pauli have signed goalkeeper Ben Voll and attacker Scott Banks, with the latter returning to the club permanently after spending last season on loan from Crystal Palace.

The German side have also recruited midfielder Roberto Wagner on a season-long loan deal from fellow Bundesliga side Freiburg.

Blessin is having to contend with a number of injury issues ahead of Wednesday's friendly, with Manolis Saliakas, Sascha Burchert, Eric Smith, Daniele Sinani and Muhammad Dahaba expected to miss out.

Lyon have made a number of additions this summer, including Moussa Niakhate, Ernest Nuamah, Abner, Mame Balde, Orel Mangala and Georges Mikautadze.

Mangala and Mikautadze are not part of the training camp in Austria after recently representing their respective countries at Euro 2024.

Duje Caleta-Car and Said Benrahma will likely play some role in Wednesday's friendly, having converted their loan deals into permanent transfers.

However, Lyon are unable to call upon Rayan Cherki, Alexander Lacazette and Johann Lepenant, with the trio involved in Thierry Henry's France squad for the 2024 Olympics.

St Pauli possible starting lineup:

Voll; Nemeth, Dzwigala, Mets; Gunther, Irvine, Wagner, Ahlstrand; Banks, Saad, Eggestein

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Mata, Niakhate, Caleta-Car, Abner; Caqueret, Matic, Tolisso; Nuamah, Benrahma, Balde

We say: St Pauli 1-3 Lyon

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