Olympique Lyonnais may have been up against the German giants who pulverised Barcelona 8-2 in the quarters - and who beat Lyon the only time they made it to the semis, back in 2010 - but Rudi Garcia's men came out swinging in Lisbon and very nearly put their illustrious opponents to the sword.

Toko Ekambi: 'I don't think Bayern were unbeatable'

The pace and timing of livewire OL forward Karl Toko Ekambi had the Bayern defence in real trouble at times but the Cameroon international saw his effort crash back off Manuel Neuer's post after a dazzling solo run (17') and then lost out one-on-one to the German shot-stopper with half an hour to go (58').

"We feel that we could have done better, that we could have scored tonight, and no-one more so than me," admitted Toko Ekambi. "Things just didn't go our way tonight. We were up against a good goalkeeper, and they made the most of their chances. But I don't think Bayern were unbeatable. We kept them under control and we played well with the ball. We just couldn't manage to take our chances."

Garcia: 'Disappointment'

Unfortunately for OL, Bayern's Germany international Serge Gnabry followed in Toko Ekambi's footsteps just a minute later, using his impressive pace and power to fend off several defenders before unleashing a thunderbolt into the back of Anthony Lopes' net to make it 1-0.

"Even though we can be proud of our run, and the match we played, indeed it is disappointment that prevails," confessed Garcia after the heart-breaking match. "We just couldn't capitalise on our chances at the start of the game. We should have taken the lead but instead we found ourselves trailing thanks to a piece of individual brilliance from Gnabry."

Garcia: 'We believed'

The German then drew a fine save from Lopes (25') but wasn't to be denied a second (33') before Robert Lewandowski bagged his 15^th of the European campaign to make certain sure of the 3-0 result at the death (88').

"At 2-0, things got complicated, even though we didn't give up. The game plan went well, but we didn't make good use of wide areas. If you score at the start, it's a whole different game. Having two big chances and not putting them away... it's hard," explained Garcia. "In the second half, we had some big chances. But if you don't score, you can't qualify. Nonetheless, congratulations to the players. We're out, we wanted to go to the final, we believed in it."

Juninho: 'Heads held high'

Meanwhile OL sporting director Juninho was full of praise for his side, who showed impressive team spirit and strength in depth, with youngster Maxence Caqueret playing out of his skin in three matches and 17-year-old Rayan Cherki subbed on against Bayern to become the youngest-ever player to take the field in a Champions League knockout match.

"We're all sad. Getting there is very hard, but we exit the competition with our heads held high," said. "I'm very proud; we played according to the game plan, but to beat a team like that you have to have a few things go your way. We're proud of the squad, but devastated at the same time."