This Olympique Lyonnais loves to compete in unexpected ways to surprise his world. This season was almost all for the worse: both in terms of the team’s performance and the gruesome relationship between management and some of its supporters.
Confined before the meeting to the rank of outsider, with no chance of qualification according to the forecasts, the Lyonnais appeared transfigured, Wednesday, February 26, against Juventus Turin in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Thanks to a remarkable first period, where they could have scored more than once and finally rewarded with a goal from Lucas Tousart (31e), players of coach Rudi Garcia had an unexpected success (1-0).
In recent years, the tradition of OL’s major European games has been more of a myth than a reality. We could hardly cite the two games last season against Manchester City … But still, the victory and the draw won in 2018 against the players of Pep Guardiola did not have a huge significance because these excellent results had been obtained in group stage, where the pressure of knockout matches does not paralyze the legs.
In the same spirit, a year ago, the mark of the last eighth finals to go against Barça (0-0) was far too flattering compared to the lucky performance of Lyonnais. A performance that had quickly been put into perspective by the correction received on the return, a 5 to 1 synonymous with glorious elimination. A pitfall that must be avoided on March 17 in Turin during the return match.
Forget your misfortunes for a European evening
Against the Juventus of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who wore a new experimental bun, the teammates of the excellent midfielder Houssem Aouar have not only revived a tradition in danger, they have simply achieved their best match of the season . In great difficulty in Ligue 1 (7e 28 points from Paris and 15 from OM), the club of President Jean-Michel Aulas has forgotten its misfortunes for a European evening.
Despite the warnings and tensions, the supporters had put away their resentments far from the spans of a furnished stadium – with the presence of 3,000 Italian supporters despite the concerns linked to the coronavirus – to ensure a superb atmosphere. Even the few whistles against Rudi Garcia before the kick-off went unnoticed.
The first fright was however for the Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who was very happy to see the first center shot of CR7 flee his cage (4th). Arranged in a perfectly mastered 3-5-2, Lyon has for once imposed real pressing on its opponent. The new Brazilian rookie, Bruno Guimaraes, stabilized the midfielder, freeing his teammate Lucas Tousart more comfortable when he moved higher on the field.
Thus, on an overflow so characteristic of his style with finesse, Houssem Aouar addressed a center back that Tousart propelled to the bottom of the cages of the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt was at the time healing a head injury on the edge of the field.
Only scorer of the match, Tousart, future Berliner, can even boast from now on an astonishing statistic: with two goals, one of which registered in the return match against Barcelona last season, he is the third best scorer in Lyon history in knockout matches behind Sylvain Wiltord and Juninho.
"We are not going to go to Turin as victims"
A few minutes earlier, on another Aouar service, this time following a corner, the recovery of Karl Toko Ekambi's head had failed on the Turin crossbar (20e). Four minutes later, Maxwell Cornet had avoided opening the brand to a new dangerous center for Ronaldo.
Dazzling, Houssem Aouar responded in his own way to the challenge proposed to him by his president during an interview with the daily Tuttosport five days before this poster: "I would like to see Aouar at Juventus in the future. I hope Houssem also has this ambition. He will have to take advantage of the two matches to highlight himself. "
Man of the match, he welcomed the collective performance, while displaying the necessary caution: "I'm going to retain the performance of the team, we weren't favorites but we always believed in ourselves. We played with great envy and selflessness. There is still a second game so you have to be careful. We’ll first focus on the championship. One thing is certain, we are not going to go to Turin as a victim. "
More consistent with the usual balance of power between the two teams, the second period saw the locals brace themselves in their own half. But the Portuguese could pray to all the saints by kneeling in the penalty area to claim in vain for a penalty (84e), Juventus could not return. Right after, Gonzalo Higuain also lacked precision by shooting aside before Paulo Dybala was signaled in an offside position when he thought he had equalized.
The intrusion of one of his admirers during the overtime did nothing to annoy Ronaldo. At the cost of a last authoritarian outing of Anthony Lopes' two fists, the Lyonnais players could finally breathe and commune with their supporters. The stormy end of the match on December 10 after their qualification against Leipzig in 8e was forgotten. The two turns offered two successive and deserved ovations to their evening heroes.
In three weeks, in a stadium which may be placed behind closed doors according to the evolution of the epidemic in Italy, OL will have a date with its history. The Lyonnais have not qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for ten years. At the time, they eliminated another European juggernaut, Real Madrid, before failing in the semifinals.
