“OL is thanks to him”: Jean-Michel Aulas pays tribute to Bernard Lacombe

The Aulas-Lacombe partnership was disbanded in 2019 when the sports advisor left his position at OL. But the bond between the two men who took the Lyon club from one world to another, starting in the late 1980s, has never been severed.

There was more than just friendship between the former striker and the business leader, and the latter supported the man who "taught him everything" about the world of football until the end. He recounts this deep admiration.

"What is your first feeling after Bernard Lacombe's death? I was with him again yesterday afternoon (Monday) , when we asked his friends to come because we knew it would be the end. It is infinite pain and at the same time a relief, a calming feeling too. Bernard was very religious and he suffered a lot, so it is a mixture of feelings, and also a day of deliverance for him, for Mireille (his wife) , for his two sons, for his sisters, who were exceptional in the ordeal. But it is cruel, as if I had lost my brother or my parents.

In Lyon, you were an inseparable duo for a long time... He was like a brother. 36 and a half years of football together is an eternity, more than a couple! Immense joys, above all. With him, Lyon became the biggest club in France. It was Claude Bez (president of the Girondins de Bordeaux from 1978 to 1991) who told me: "If you want to succeed, you have to take two Lyonnais with different but complementary personalities." That was Raymond Domenech and especially Bernard Lacombe. He arrived immediately, in 1988, and we never left each other. He was a boy with incredible qualities, we formed a duo at all times. He was one of the greatest players France has ever known, but also a good man, who wanted to do good.

“He taught me everything about football.”

What was he like on a daily basis? His defining characteristic was that he was infinitely funny. We had such hilarious evenings thanks to him! Because he also had an incredible memory; he remembered all his goals for the French team, with Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint-Étienne. He was an inexhaustible source of incredibly precise memories. French football has lost an exceptional person.

What was his role in building modern OL? I wrote that he taught me everything in football and it's true. At OL he did everything, co-coach with Raymond (Domenech) to start with, then sporting director, advisor, coach again after a match lost 7-0 at Auxerre, when we were 13th or 14th: we finished qualified for the Intertoto Cup that season (1996-1997). Afterwards he became advisor again. He was the sporting advisor, the recruiter, it was with him that I negotiated the big operations and I obviously remember this trip to Barcelona to go and get Sonny (Anderson, in 1999) . I whispered in his ear yesterday (Monday) : "You always left with the idea of ​​finding a player who would be worth X, and you came back with a player who was worth 2X". At that moment I saw a little grimace on his face, I think he heard what I was saying.

“The night of the first title he was so proud, so happy”

What image will you keep of Bernard Lacombe? The one from the evening of the first title, against Lens (in 2002) . That evening he was so proud, so happy. Because he experienced everything at OL. The first professional contract, the financial difficulties, having to agree to leave for Saint-Étienne because the club needed the money from his transfer. Emotionally, that evening was better than when we reached the semi-finals of the Champions League (2010). Otherwise, I remember this happy, almost childlike side that he could have seeing this club growing every day.

Did he often talk about his playing career? He was very proud of not having received a red card in his career, yet he was a striker who knew what he had to do, an exceptional fighter.

He had his own unique expressions. Which one did you prefer? There were so many! But let's just say that when a player didn't quite fit the bill, technically speaking, he often said, "I wouldn't like to be in the ball's place." It was an evening of infinite sadness, and the anecdotes get a bit mixed up. But... (long silence) it's thanks to him, that's it.