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Preview: Lyon Target Another Major Upset Ahead Champions League Quarter-final Clash Vs Man City 

Preview: Lyon Target Another Major Upset Ahead Champions League Quarter-final Clash Vs Man City 

French club Olympique Lyon will be hoping for another big upset when they take on Manchester City, in the last of the Champions League quarter-final ties in Lisbon on Saturday, aiming to reach the last four for just a second time.

Rudi Garcia’s Lyon side showed exactly what they are capable of against Serie A giants Juventus in the last 16, edging through 2-2 on away goals 

Lyon looked a little rusty against Juve last time out as it was just their second competitive game in five months, the other being a defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de Ligue final on July 31. 

But Pep Guardiola’s men need no reminding of the threat pose by Lyon following their clash in last season’s group stage.

Lyon secured a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium, followed up with a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture – a match that saw Lyon dominate the midfield battle.

Even Guardiola is aware of the huge task before his team.

“Anything can happen,” he said. “It’s a different competition. It’s a final at every stage. We are ready to do our best performance to go through.

“The pressure is always there, we try to do our best like the other teams. 

“We saw how tight it was in the last two games, and Saturday will be no exception. It’s a final so it’s one game. We’ll try to avoid mistakes so they can’t punish us.”

This will be Lyon’s first appearance in the quarter-finals of the Champions League since 2009-10, and they have progressed from just one of their previous four games at this stage, eliminating Bordeaux in 2009-10.

For City, they have momentum on their side following their 4-2 aggregate victory over Madrid in the first knockout round, following up their 2-1 first-leg triumph with a win by the same scoreline in last Friday’s return fixture.

That famous victory made it three wins in a row for EFL Cup winners City in all competitions, and six victories in their last seven, scoring 23 goals and conceding only four during that run.

City are competing at the last-eight stage for a fourth time in five seasons, but have advanced from just one of those previous ties – knocking out PSG in 2015-16.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendy is back from suspension, though Guardiola may well opt to stick with Joao Cancelo in the left-back position with Oleksandr Zinchenko being another option.

In midfield, David Silva and Bernardo Silva are pushing for recalls to the starting XI, but Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo and Kevin De Bruyne are expected to retain their places.

In terms of Lyon, Moussa Dembele was left out for the second leg against Juve but will surely be brought back into the side on Saturday.

The winner between City and Lyon will square off against Bayern Munich who demolished Barcelona 8-2 in Friday night’s quarter-final tie.


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