“I’m building up a step at a time!”
“I’m building up a step at a time!”
Berlin – a UEFA Champions League semi-final has millions of football fans in front of their TV screens. Lucas Tousart is no exception this Wednesday evening (19th August 2020). The Frenchman, who has been assigned a regenerative programme for the rest of the week along with his teammates after intensive training sessions at Schenckendorffplatz, has his fingers crossed for his former teammates at Olympique Lyon. Before completing his move, the midfielder scored the only goal in Lyon’s first leg victory over Juventus. His colleagues finished the job with a key away goal in Turin, and Tousart rightfully celebrated the victory on social media. Olympique Lyon pulled off an even bigger shock last Saturday (15th August 2020), however, by beating Manchester City 3-1. “I was so happy with my former teammates’ brilliant performance and I’m really pleased for them. Reaching the semi-final is a really historic moment and huge for the whole club,” says Tousart.
Lyon’s chances against Bayern? “Anything is possible!”
Hertha’s number 29 has fond memories of his time in Lyon, where he made his Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League debuts before moving to Berlin. Tousart is expecting “a very difficult game” for his former side on Wednesday, as the former Lyon man praises the German record champions. “Bayern are an uncompromising side that plays with great class and intensity – you could see that against Barcelona.” So how can Lyon cause another shock? “Lyon need to bring their best game, be very strong defensively and make the right decisions as a team in the key moments. That way, they’ll be able to relieve some of the pressure. At the end of the day, anything is possible; Lyon have proven that again and again,” chuckles the right-footer.
Away from the final stages of the European tournaments, Tousart and his teammates are already in their fourth week of pre-season. After four months of an enforced break during lockdown, the former France youth player admits that getting back into the training routine was “a little tricky”. “It’s completely different being able to be back on the grass again now. I’m building up physically a step at a time,” explains the 1.85m-tall midfielder, who played his first minutes in blue and white in the two intra-squad friendlies and in the match against third-division side Viktoria Köln (2-0).
Memories of Marseille, the focus on Braunschweig
Several players who speak Tousart’s native language have helped him settle into his new environment. “Dodi (Lukébakio), Dedryck (Boyata), Karim (Rekik) – they’re all helping me a lot,” says the central midfielder. Rekik knows Tousart from games in Ligue 1, even though the pair never met each other on the pitch. “Karim played for Olympique Marseille at that time, and there isn’t much of a friendship between the fans of ‘OM’ and Lyon,” explains Tousart, who is also looking to get to know his non-French speaking teammates better. “Of course I try and speak with the other lads in English, and I’ve set myself the goal of learning German bit by bit. I know some words already, but it’s not an easy language,” says the new signing. Lucas Tousart doesn’t just have clear goals to do with languages; he’s already looking towards the first competitive game of the season. “By the end of pre-season, I’ll hopefully be in a position to make my debut for Hertha BSC in the Pokal,” says the Frenchman. After what he hopes is an exciting evening of football on the sofa at home, Tousart can’t wait to get going himself.