Prior to joining the Red Bulls, forward Peguy Luyindula gained valuable experience playing with French side Lyon, before going on to stints with Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. We sat down with him after a recent training session to get his thoughts on this weekend's match against Montreal, and Tuesday's friendly against Lyon.
Let’s start off with Montreal. They’re coming to town 22316103" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; " tabindex="0">Saturday for a 722316104" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; " tabindex="0"> PM kick off at Red Bull Arena. This is the third and final time this season we’ll be playing them. What did you see over the first two matchups that you may expect to see again this weekend?
It’s a good team. Very good team. They play great football on the ground. They find partners to build up their play and they’re very quick up front with Di Vaio. They’re really in this, especially in the counter attack, so you have to be careful because they can play.
We have Lyon 22316105" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; " tabindex="0">on tap Tuesday as well. This is a team you most recently played against when you were with Paris Saint-Germain last season. What did you see from them, and do you expect to see the same thing 22316106" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; " tabindex="0">Tuesday night?
Lyon is a big club, a pretty big club. I won a lot of titles with them, I played three years for them, won three titles, three French championships, so it’s a very good team. Obviously it’s a team I made a lot of my football experiences with, so I’m really pleased to play against them. And it’s going to be a tough game, because it’s a hard team to play, always.
That sort of touched on my next question about playing with them. What was it like being a part of that organization and playing over there?
It was amazing, because I was a part of the building time. So we won the first title of three with the club, so it’s always been a great memory for me. All that I played with them, the UEFA Champions League, the championship, and everything, so it was great. I have just very good memories from them.
In terms of your career, would you say that was the first chance for you to really put your skills to the test? To take it to the next level?
Yes, because I was coming from a, not a small club, but it was not like Lyon would come to be. So it was a good step and a huge step for me. It gave me the chance to play there and a chance to play in the UEFA Champions League, to be a part of the French national team, so I owe a lot to them.
How do you define Lyon’s style of play?
The style is changing because they’re changing a lot of their roster. So right now is not the same like it used to be two years ago, so it’s movin along all these years. Now it’s a little bit more with power than how the play used to be.
The Red Bulls kick off against Lyon Tuesday, July 16, at 8 PM on MSG. You can watch all the action live at Red Bull Arena by securing your tickets now at Red Bulls Ticket Central, or by calling 877.RB.SOCCER.
