UEFA Champions League

Semi-finals

Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon

Olympique Lyonnais - FC Bayern Munich

- Kick-off at 21:00 CET

"No-one's perfect."

It may sound like a platitude - or an excuse - but when Rudi Garcia says it about tournament favourites Bayern Munich, it means that he, his staff and his young team will do everything they can to find - and exploit - weakness in Hansi Flick's side, who utterly demolished the great FC Barcelona 8-2 in their quarter-final on Friday.

Garcia: 'My team are capable of anything'

"We cannot look at the stats, otherwise we will just stay and watch the game at the hotel," said a bullish Garcia, whose side are in the semis for the first time in ten years - the last time coming in 2009-10 against… Bayern Munich. "We know who we are playing - they do not have many weak points. But like all the teams in the world, no-one is perfect. It's up to us to express what we are capable of. My team are capable of anything, even causing problems for Bayern. Yes we are underdogs, but we have already taken out some great teams."

Indeed, Garcia stuck with the same line-up that eliminated Juventus for the quarter-final against Manchester City, and his young charges did him proud with a shock 3-1 win over Pep Guardiola's side.

Massive team effort

In both matches, his outstanding midfield trio of Houssem Aouar, Bruno Guimaraes and Maxence Caqueret have harried, hassled and tackled - but also run and passed - their way past 'bigger' opponents, shielding the three-man defence and feeding the likes of strikers Moussa Dembélé and Karl Toko Ekambi. This full-team approach is bearing fruit, and the OL boss is thrilled with how his side - who had a rough start to the 2019-20 season under Sylvinho - has come together.   

"It's good to be in the semi-finals - it has already been a huge effort," said the former LOSC and OM coach, who took the southern giatns to the Europa League final in 2018. "The two matches we have played in the last week or so should give us confidence if we need it. It is a real pleasure to see the Lyon players give everything for each other."

Depay to step up?

While Garcia has no major injury concerns, he does have selection headaches up front. As a starter against Juventus, Dembélé hardly figured, but he scored twice off the bench against City. Will Garcia prefer him to Toko Ekambi? Or will club captain Memphis Depay, extremely quiet in the quarter-final, be hooked?

Meanwhile, Bayern boss Flick is - no-brainer - tipped to stick with the line-up that erased Barcelona, but with right-back Benjamin Pavard fit again, he could opt to return Joshua Kimmich to a central midfield role in his 4-2-3-1. He could also opt to start World Cup-winner Kingsley Coman - best friends with Dembélé since their time at PSG's youth academy back in the day - in place of Croatia's Ivan Perisic on the left wing.

Should OL manage to tame the Bavarian ogre, they will face compatriots Paris Saint-Germain in the final at Lisbon's Estadio da Luz on Sunday, 23 August.

Probable teams

Olympique Lyonnais: Lopes; Marcelo, Denayer, Marçal; Dubois, Caqueret, Guimaraes, Aouar, Cornet; Toko Ekambi, Memphis (c)

FC Bayern Munich: Neuer (c); Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Goretzka, Thiago; Gnabry, Müller, Coman; Lewandowski