Countdown on for Lyon coach Puel
PARIS - Brief news from Ligue 1 before this weekend's matches:
The clock is ticking for Olympique Lyon coach Claude Puel, who has been given until October 23 by chairman Jean-Michel Aulas to improve results as the French champions from 2002 to 2008 lie 17th in the standings.
Puel has two home games left - against third-placed Lille, his former club, on Sunday and Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday - to save his job but said he was "not going to change".
"After the two games, the chairman will take his decision. I don't care," he told sports daily L'Equipe.
The match between 13th-placed Nice and second-placed St Etienne has been rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday at the request of the Interior Ministry.
The game has been classified as a security risk because of past incidents between the two clubs but the reason cited by the ministry was a lack of police due to a day of nationwide demonstrations against a pension reform.
Olympique Marseille striker Mathieu Valbuena will probably be rested for Saturday's match against lowly Nancy after returning from international duty with a knee injury.
He received the green light from the team doctor after a scan but coach Didier Deschamps said: "I don't want to take any risk and we'll need everybody on board for our Champions League match against Zilina on Tuesday."
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