\u2014 L1+ (@ligue1plus) February 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Having leapfrogged Marseille \u2014 whose head coach Roberto De Zerbi left last week<\/a> \u2014 into an automatic Champions League spot, they are seven points behind leaders Lens and six behind Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n For Lyon to be fighting on three fronts is remarkable given their situation last summer \u2014 and Fonseca\u2019s.<\/p>\n They were initially set to begin this season in Ligue 2. In June, the DNGC, French football\u2019s financial watchdog, had relegated them<\/a> due to the club\u2019s financial problems, which included soaring debts and a bloated wage structure. A week later, owner John Textor resigned from Lyon\u2019s board.<\/p>\n However, they won an appeal the following month, allowing them to remain in Ligue 1<\/a>, subject to financial controls on their wage bill and transfer spending.<\/p>\n Fonseca was forced to overhaul his squad. Key players were sold, including star attacker Rayan Cherki to Manchester City, goalkeeper Lucas Perri to Leeds United, and forward Georges Mikautadze to Villarreal. Former Arsenal and France forward Alexandre Lacazette also left his hometown club on a free transfer to free up the wage bill.<\/p>\n In their place, at a fraction of the cost, arrived 20-year-old winger Afonso Moreira from Sporting CP; Tyler Morton, who has been a revelation in midfield, from Liverpool; defender Ruben Kluivert (Patrick\u2019s son and Justin\u2019s younger brother) from Casa Pia in Portugal; goalkeeper Dominik Greif from Mallorca; and Czech Republic striker Pavel Sulc, who has been a standout performer in Ligue 1.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have built a real team, with humble players who work hard together,\u201d Fonseca tells The Athletic.<\/p>\n Under Fonseca, who has developed a reputation for nurturing young talent, Lyon have promoted teenagers from their fabled academy<\/a>, including Khalis Merah, Adil Hamdani and Remi Himbert.<\/p>\n They were further bolstered in January by the high-profile signing of Brazilian striker Endrick<\/a>, on loan from Real Madrid.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a unique talent and if he continues to focus, he will have a great future,\u201d Fonseca says.<\/p>\n Fonseca has gone through a period of reflection, too, after he was handed a nine-month ban for angrily confronting referee Benoit Millot in March last year.<\/p>\n The suspension prevented him from accessing the touchline or the officials\u2019 changing rooms until November 30, and he could not enter the players\u2019 changing rooms, the pitch or the tunnel until September 15.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, it was a difficult moment,\u201d Fonseca says. \u201cI didn\u2019t deserve this punishment, and I think everyone agrees. I never touched anyone, I never had the intention to. I just screamed in the face of the referee, something that happens every week, in every place, in every country.<\/p>\n \n Paulo Fonseca is on the touchline again after a nine-month suspension (Alex Martin\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cBut I pay for the moment in the French league. It\u2019s in the past, and I don\u2019t want to think more about this. You cannot fight against some things and we have to learn to maybe be more balanced in some moments of the game and I\u2019m trying to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n It begs the obvious question of how he carried out his job during that period.<\/p>\n \u201cTo not be with the team in the important moments, in the dressing room, at the end of the game, at half-time, it was really difficult,\u201d Fonseca says. \u201cBut I had the help of everyone in the club at the time, and that\u2019s something I\u2019ll never forget. We continued to have good results, so the time passed very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n During that time, Fonseca spoke with his team in the hotel before a game, before then leaving his assistants, Jorge Maciel and former Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira, to deliver the team talks in the dressing room.<\/p>\n He leaned on the support of his senior players, such as Corentin Tolisso, Moussa Niakhate, and Clinton Mata.<\/p>\n \u201cMy captains were fantastic, they were amazing,\u201d Fonseca says. \u201cI spoke with them and said, \u2018I need your help, I need your intervention in the dressing room. I want you to be me in the dressing room\u2019. I\u2019m very grateful to them because they were so important, and they continue to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonseca still led training sessions and the ban only applied to France, so he was allowed in the dressing room and dugout during their European matches. Their Europa League dream ended last season with an incredible 5-4 quarter-final loss away to Manchester United at Old Trafford (7-6 on aggregate), with two goals at the end of extra time.<\/p>\n Back in France, that meant he observed games from the stands, something that\u2019s more typically seen in rugby.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to confess, it was a very good experience,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have another view from high up, you can see much more than you see when you\u2019re on the bench. You can see a lot of details. We could see more coaches doing this, like in rugby, because you have another vision<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite that, Fonseca said he was glad to return to his usual position on the touchline when his ban ended. His first game back was a 1-0 loss against Lorient on December 7, their last defeat before the run of 13 victories in a row.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the most important thing was to be back with the team in the dressing room,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you speak in the hotel, you have one and a half to two hours before the start of the game. So when you have direct contact moments before the game, it is totally different, the energy you can pass on. You cannot compare. Even what you can create in half-time, after a game, it\u2019s really important for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Lyon feels like a perfect fit for Fonseca after a difficult spell at Milan at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n Milan sacked Fonseca after just six months in charge, before he was replaced by Sergio Conceicao, who was dismissed after a similar period.<\/p>\n Fonseca was afforded an undignified exit at Milan<\/a>. The details of Conceicao\u2019s impending appointment were broken by a Sky Italia journalist before Fonseca had even conducted his post-match media duties following Milan\u2019s 1-1 draw with Roma. Fonseca was left to confirm his departure to reporters from a company car as he exited San Siro an hour later. Milan formally announced his dismissal the next day, with a 31-word statement.<\/p>\n \u201cI deserved more time,\u201d he says. \u201cMilan is an amazing club and I enjoyed it a lot. I\u2019m really sorry I didn\u2019t have time \u2014 their proposal was to change the game (to a more expansive style). To change one thing they had for so many years is not easy; you need time, especially in Italy, where it\u2019s even more difficult, almost impossible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had amazing games, playing really good football. We needed to be more consistent, it\u2019s true, but to change something in Italy is really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Lyon is the latest stop in a managerial journey that has taken Fonseca from Portugal, where he coached Aves, Pacos Ferreira, Porto, and Braga, before spells at Shakhtar Donetsk, Roma, Lille and Milan.<\/p>\n \n Paulo Fonseca during his time with Shakhtar (Genya Savilov\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n How does he feel he\u2019s evolved as a manager?<\/p>\n \u201cI learn a lot from each phase of my career. You can see Portuguese coaches everywhere because we have this capacity to understand the environment, the countries, the cultures.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m better now defensively, because I learned a lot in Italy. In Ukraine, I learned a lot how to play in the last 30 metres because I had that scenario all the time, and that\u2019s the hardest thing in football.<\/p>\n \u201cI love being in France. The championship here is amazing, with modern stadiums that are full, and a lot of quality players and very good coaches. I love that the game here is open and players love to play.\u201d<\/p>\n He came close to taking the Tottenham job<\/a> in the summer of 2021. Does the chance to manage in the Premier League still hold appeal?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just thinking about Lyon. I don\u2019t know what will happen in the future, all of us have ambitions. But I\u2019m in a big club, an amazing club, that wants to grow, wants to become stronger. The most important thing for me is to be in a place where the people believe in you and your ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n Style matters to Fonseca \u2014 Pep Guardiola is the coach he admires the most. \u201cFor the coaches who love to play, it\u2019s becoming even more difficult,\u201d Fonseca says. \u201cFootball is pleasure. We cannot forget that it is the most admired show in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a coach, I feel we have an obligation when the people come, 50,000, 60,000 to see our games, to create a good show. No one wants to go to a stadium to see a boring game without opportunities. The game is changing a lot. The game we are seeing today is not beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonseca\u2019s first spell abroad was a successful three-year stint at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he won three domestic titles and beat Manchester City away in the Champions League.<\/p>\n Following that victory, he dressed as the fictional character Zorro in the resulting press conference, keeping to a promise he made if Shakhtar reached the knockout stage of the competition.<\/p>\n Fonseca, who met his wife, Katerina Ostroushko, during his time in Ukraine, is heartbroken by the conflict in the country, following the Russian invasion in 2022. At the start of that year, Fonseca and his family drove 30 hours<\/a> and spent a night in an underground bunker to escape the country, Sky Sports reported at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people are there and it\u2019s -10, -15 degrees (as cold as 5F), without energy, there\u2019s bombing, people dying, things are getting worse and worse,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine is amazing, the people are amazing, humble people who just want to live in peace. I suffer a lot with this. My wife is Ukrainian, and I have a kid who is Ukrainian. I\u2019m so upset, it\u2019s difficult for me to speak about the situation in Ukraine. I\u2019m really sorry for the people living there because we cannot imagine how difficult it must be.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in Lyon and Fonseca\u2019s side are entering a crucial period, with tough away matches coming up against Strasbourg and Marseille, before their cup quarter-final with Lens and the Europa League round of 16.<\/p>\n Fonseca is determined to keep his young side grounded, but the excitement around Lyon is becoming impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone here believes we can make something special this season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PAULO-FONSECA-TOUCHLINE-scaled.jpg\")
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