Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage has spoken to the media ahead of the club’s first Europa League away day on matchday two of the 2026/27 season. 

The French manager will return to the Groupama Stadium to face his former side, where he managed for two seasons as his first role in Professional football. 

Sage discussed the game, the fitness of the side and also shared a word for the Palace fans, 3,000 of whom have made the journey to East-Central France to support the side. 

Some questions were answered in French and have been translated so comments may not be 100% accurate. 

Sage was questioned primarily on his time at Lyon, and what impact that will have on the game tomorrow and the buildup too. 

“I still feel part of Lyon somehow, I still have a house here. When I get asked where I live, even though I’m in London at the moment, I still say Lyon, so it’s a special moment.”

It won’t be the first time that Sage has returned to Lyon as an opposition manager, having done so multiple times with RC Lens before he joined Palace. 

“I was more relaxed in the second game I came back here [with Lens]. I hope I’m going to be even more relaxed tomorrow and come onto the pitch with a clear mind.”

The final game Sage managed with Lens away to Lyon was a French Cup tie, which ended 2-2 after a Lyon comeback, only for Sage’s Lens side to win on penalties. 

“Of course, I remember in the French Cup when Lyon came back to 2-2, you know I couldn’t really be pleased to be here, but we managed to turn things around. As we say, football has no memory, you forget what the past was, it’s a different game tomorrow, it’s a different competition and we’ll try to show our best.”

Lyon were unbeaten in five games before they faced Lens in their most recent Ligue Un game, suffering a 2-1 defeat away from home, despite Lens playing the final ten minutes with ten men. 

Sage had watched the game in preparation, but took little from the loss in terms of optimism ahead of the game. 

“I think if we take for example the first half of what they played against Lens it wasn’t really up to par, their real game is more, they’re a really strong side. Yes, there were a few changes in the summer which were logical to build this team. They have a lot of intensity in midfield, they love to attack the depth, which is a trademark of the coach Fonseca.”

Preparing for European fixtures, alongside the demands of the domestic league and cup games too, can be intense, and limits the opportunities for analysis and more importantly communicating the correct instructions to the players, which Sage also touched on. 

“I cannot claim to know everything about the club [Lyon], and the Crystal Palace players don’t know everything about the club, so we need to educate them in order to develop the game plan and tell them the game place that we’re going to play against Lyon.”

Whilst the narrative surrounding Sage’s return has certainly been a focal point, mainly from the French media, Sage was clear that there is only one focus for the game. 

“Of course there’s a bit of emotion there in terms of what happened with the club and being back here, but the most important thing is that it’s a football game and we’ll try to put on a good game and get a good result.”

There were a number of absentees for the Premier League win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, many of which were set a targeted return date of either this game, or Brighton at the weekend. 

However, Sage confirmed that none of those players would be fit to play at Lyon, and that they hadn’t travelled with the squad. 

“JP Mateta will not be here, Dean Henderson too, Tomiyasu too, Chilwell too, and Chadi for sure. All of the players that are out of the list, if not everybody’s here.”

Sage was asked about the importance of the away support in the away games in the Europa League this season, and in classic fashion for the Frenchman, heaped great praise on the supporters. 

“I know there will be 3,000 tomorrow and we are really happy and proud that they are with us and we can share this kind of moment. The history of the club in European competitions is not much time, I just want to thank them before the game because the result is something, the game is something, but they don’t choose to come for the result, they just choose to come to be with us and that’s a really good proof of our club.”

Those travelling fans will have enjoyed the evening in Lyon prior to the game, and will be hoping to see Palace make further history with a statement victory on the road in Europe.