Olympique Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia was quick to play down fears over star striker Moussa Dembélé, who left the field limping near the end of OL's 2-0 win at Metz on Friday evening.
The forward scored the opening goal, after a lengthy VAR review of a Matthieu Udol handball, with a penalty that took his league tally to 14 for the season. But the former Celtic attacker limped off when replaced by Amine Gouiri in added time, just after Houssem Aouar had scored Lyon's second goal. Lyon host Juventus on Wednesday in the first leg of the Round of 16 of the Champions League and Garcia said of Dembélé: "He's got nothing, there are no worries there."
The OL boss also said Jason Denayer will be fit to face the Serie A giants who feature Cristiano Ronaldo despite the Belgian taking a knock. Garcia had many reasons to be satisfied as OL found some form at just the right time with added encouragement coming from Bruno Guimaraes' promising debut in midfield and the return from injury of Léo Dubois at right wing-back as Garcia essayed a 3-4-3 system.
Garcia said: "We didn't concede chances and we were well set up in the new system with three defenders. We must still improve in certain areas, notably in the precision of our crossing. Bruno's integration went well and so did Léo Dubois' return. The system allowed them to be at ease. We won by two goals and that's good as we were up against a valiant, physical team. We can now focus on the Champions League."
Sporting director Juninho added: "We need to rest now before Juventus. That will be a completely different match. We'll be able to prove to our fans that we're a good team. We'll need to play that game flat out and go out onto the pitch thinking we can beat them. We can have hope if we manage to play with freedom, if we play to our level and we're very aggressive."
