Lloris: Friendships will go out of the window against Lyon

Hugo Lloris. Photo: Adam Davy/EMPICS Sport

By Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent Wednesday, February 13, 2013
10:06 AM

Hugo Lloris says his friendships with his former Lyon team-mates will go out of the window at White Hart Lane tomorrow night.

Lloris swapped Lyon for Spurs in August and saw the two sides drawn together in the last 32 of the Europa League.

The France No1 goalkeeper admits that the clash will be an emotional one for him, but he insists that he will be fully focused on his task if he is selected ahead of Brad Friedel.

“It’s not easy for me because it’s very close to my move, but I’m ready,” he told Spurs TV. “I’m concentrating on my team, on Tottenham, and getting us into the next round.

“The competition is very difficult, it’s very long, but we have a good team and we can do something in this competition.

“I received a lot of calls and a lot of messages [when the draw was made] because I have a lot of good friends there.

“It’s not easy for me because I had a good relationship with all my ex-team-mates, but that’s football and that’s life.

“On the pitch there are no friends, we play for our team and we give all our best for the team.

“Lyon have great players like Lisandro [Lopez], like [Bafetimbi] Gomis. They also have players who have the potential to be big – young players from the academy, like [Maxime] Gonalons and [Alexandre] Lacazette. It will be a difficult game.”

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