It’s the meeting place for exiles.
Tuesday February 27, 7 p.m., the first supporters arrive at Belushi's Gare du Nord, in Paris, dressed in their most beautiful jerseys... from Olympique Lyonnais.
This evening, Lyon faces Strasbourg in the quarter-final of the Coupe de France, in a sold-out OL Park.
But exactly 476 km away, 400 Lyon supporters gather to experience the match together.
“It’s incredible because I haven’t been in Paris for long,” explains Nathan.
At first I went to watch the matches with my cousins, but there were two of us, three maximum.
And there we meet and we’re like at the stadium.”
The movement was launched barely a month ago.
“It all started with a tweet,” recalls Samuel Assoulen.
I asked on X (formerly Twitter) if any Lyon supporters wanted to come and watch the match against Marseille.
The first time there were a hundred of us and today… 400 is huge!
»
Also read “We sleep better”: OL supporters have found faith after a nightmarish start to the season
Faced with the influx of requests, we had to organize.
Samuel approached Belushi's, a bar famous for match broadcasts.
“Wherever you are in the bar, you can see the game.
There are TVs everywhere, they even bought a cube with four screens for the Rugby World Cup, it’s exceptional,” notes Samuel.
Samuel's name is also on the lips of all the supporters present this evening.
“I am originally from Lyon and I went to Paris for my studies.
I didn't expect to have such intense fervor.
Thanks to Samuel, thanks to Belushi's and thanks to the Parisians for welcoming us,” says Guillaume.
During the match, we're like at the stadium "it's a bend here in fact, it's the Gones à Paris bend", exclaims Samuel.
0-0 at the end of regulation time, we move on to the penalty shootout.
The whole bar is under pressure.
Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri saves the first penalty, an explosion of joy.
But we had to wait until the end of the session to see all the Lyon supporters exult, when Lucas Perrin missed the target for Strasbourg.
“We’re in half, we’re in half,” the supporters sing among themselves: “He who doesn’t jump isn’t from Lyon!”
".
The appointment is made for the semi-final.