Olympique Lyonnais have every right to feel confident ahead of their derby clash with AS Saint-Etienne on Sunday evening after beating Juventus 1-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.
Lyon welcome their great rivals Saint-Etienne to the Groupama Stadium on Sunday and already had reason to believe they might avenge their 1-0 loss in October’s reverse fixture, beginning the day in seventh, eight places and points better off than their visitors.
Rudi Garcia’s men impressed in beating FC Metz last Friday, digging deep to beat Les Grenats 2-0 thanks to Moussa Dembélé’s retaken penalty and Houssem Aouar’s late goal on the counter, but they excelled themselves on Wednesday, beating two-time European champions and 2017 finalists Juventus 1-0, stopping Cristiano Ronaldo and the Italian giants from having a single shot on target.
Upward surge
Lyon have turned a corner since their 4-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in early February, winning three of their four games since to pull into the top half of the table as well as punching their ticket to the Coupe de France semi-finals. With one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals to boot, star midfielder Aouar is refusing to get carried away.
Watch: Highlights of Lyon's 2-0 win over Metz
“We knew we weren’t favourites,” he explained after Lucas Tousart’s goal proved enough to give OL the 1-0 win over Juve. “But there’s a second leg and we shouldn’t get carried away. We had all the right ingredients and we’ll go to Turin for the second leg with ambition.
“We have a league game to worry about first, though. We need points in the championship and we’re not going to face Saint-Etienne as victims but rather with confidence.”
Muscular midfield
Memphis Depay and Jeff Reine-Adélaïde remain long-term injury absentees with LCL and PCL knee injuries, while the ASSE game will come too soon for Rafael, who has a thigh complaint. Bruno Guimaraes, who drew special praise from sporting director Juninho, is almost certain to slot into midfield beside goalscorer Tousart for the third consecutive game.
Sainté’s European interest was ended at the UEFA Europa League group stage in December, and they have been rather less convincing than Lyon domestically since Robert Beric’s 91st-minute winner against Les Gones at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Round 9.
Watch: Highlights of Saint-Etienne's draw with Reims
Les Verts had lost all four of the league games preceding last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Stade de Reims, in which Denis Bouanga’s goal looked to have set Claude Puel’s men on course for all three points before Boulaye Dia’s last-minute penalty resulted in yet more points dropped.
Greens feeling blue
While Beric has since left for Chicago Fire, many of the players he left behind are also injured for the Lyon match, with club captain Loïc Perrin joining attacking flair players like Wahbi Khazri and Romain Hamouma on the sidelines after pulling his groin in training.
“We know it, we know we’re in trouble and need to react as a group,” Puel said after the Reims game. “Of course there’s pressure on the manager due to the situation we find ourselves in. It’s important to support the players and be close to them. Everyone needs to take responsibility.”
As well as the laundry list of absentees which also includes Zaydou Youssouf, Kévin Monnet-Paquet and Arnaud Nordin, Sainté will be without the suspended Wesley Fofana. With so many injuries, Yann M’Vila – normally a midfielder – could be an option at centre-back.
Probable teams
Lyon: Lopes; Denayer, Marcelo, Marçal; Dubois, Tousart, Guimaraes, Cornet; Toko Ekambi, Dembélé, Aour
Saint-Etienne: Ruffier; Debuchy, Saliba, Macon, Trauco; M’Vila, Cabaye; Honorat, Boudebouz, Bounga; Diony
