Lyon
On June 14, 2007, Lyon officially announced that they would be unveiling Kader Keïta and Bodmer to the media, the pair having already passed their medicals at the Stade Gerland. On June 16, 2007, Lyon confirmed the signing of Bodmer from Lille for a €6.5 million fee. Bodmer was given the number 5 shirt, previously worn by Caçapa. Bodmer made his Ligue 1 debut for Lyon in Lyon's second match day loss to Toulouse. He played the full 90 minutes. Bodmer scored his first goal on August 29, 2007 against Sochaux in Lyon's 2–1 win. It was the game-winning goal.
In February 2008, he scored two goals in one league game for the first time of his career against Sochaux, in a 4-2 victory. Exactly one month later, he shone against Lyon's direct competitor for the league title, Bordeaux, again netting two goals in another 4-2 win. The second of those goals was particularly spectacular. Chesting down an aerial pass, Bodmer chipped the ball over his opponent Souleymane Diawara and again controlled it on his chest before firing acrobatically past goalkeeper Ulrich Ramé. Former Marseille midfielder Franck Sauzée, commenting the game as a TV pundit for Canal+, praised Bodmer for his technique and elegance.
In his successful first season in Lyon, the former Lille midfielder was part of a team that conquered a Ligue 1-Coupe de France double for the first time in the club's history. Unfortunately, it would turn out to be Bodmer's best season with the club. In the summer of 2008, Claude Puel, his former coach in Lille, was appointed as the new club manager. Puel did not fancy deploying his former protégé in midfield and preferred playing him in defence, where he was less efficient. After leaving the club, Bodmer admitted that the relationship between Puel and him was a tense one, and had been so ever since their days in Lille.
To make matters worse, between 2008 and 2010, Bodmer was plagued by injuries, another factor that made him unable to reproduce the fine form he had displayed in his first season with Les Gônes. Thus, he made just 31 league appearances during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, less than the 37 he had managed in 2007-2008. During those two seasons, Lyon failed to win any silverware. In 2009/10 Champions League Quarter Final, Bodmer provided his first assist for Lyon in the Champions League to allow striker Lisandro López to score the first goal in the game against French side Bordeaux in the 3-1 win and also played in the second leg which they lost 1-0. Lyon managed to win 3-2 on aggregate to go through to the semi-final the first time after three previous quarter-final appearances in the Champions League. Unfortunately, Lyon didn't reach to the final after losing to Bayern Munich.
Read more about this topic: Mathieu Bodmer, Club Career
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