PARIS - As they head into a new era off the pitch, a disappointing season on it means Lyon, formerly French football's dominant force, are set to miss out on European qualification once again.
With just three games of the Ligue 1 campaign remaining, including Friday's meeting with Monaco, Lyon are seventh, four points adrift of even a qualifying berth for next season's Europa Conference League.
A club, who played in Europe in 23 consecutive seasons, culminating in their run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020, are now set for a third campaign in four years without being involved in continental competition.
A decline has set in on the banks of the Rhone at what was once France's model club, champions seven years running between 2002 and 2008.
The appointment of Laurent Blanc as coach earlier this season, after a poor start, has not been enough to lift OL back to what they see as their rightful place after they came a disappointing eighth last year.
The return of local hero Alexandre Lacazette has been a success, with the striker netting 25 Ligue 1 goals since rejoining from Arsenal, and yet Lyon are simply not the force they once were.
"Europe is bust," admitted France's 1998 World Cup winner Blanc after last week's 2-1 defeat at modest Clermont.
"If the players don't agree with me, they will have to prove me wrong. And I will be very happy to be wrong," he told reporters on Wednesday.
In December, Lyon were taken over by American businessman John Textor and his company Eagle Football.
Jean-Michel Aulas, the emblematic Lyon president who had been at the helm since 1987, initially stayed in his role but the man who built the modern club departed earlier this month.
Textor now has a clear path to shape the club in his own way, and he is expected to make sweeping changes to the scouting department, although Blanc looks set to stay as coach.