Lloris made his club debut in the team's opening league match of the 2008–09 season on 10 August 2008 against Toulouse. Lyon won the match 3–0 win giving the goalkeeper his first career clean sheet with the club. In the following three matches, Lloris earned clean sheets against Lorient and regional rivals Grenoble and Saint-Étienne. Despite Lyon losing out on the title for the first time in seven years, he finished the campaign conceding only 27 goals in the league and recording 16 clean sheets; both of which were second-best to only Cédric Carrasso. Lloris was, subsequently, named the league's top goalkeeper and also named to the Team of the Year.