FC Bacelona vs Olympique Lyon is one of the champions league matches to be played tonight. Considering their recent results. Bacelona has an upper hand having won 26 of their last 29 champions league home matches. The strong home record of the Catalan giants in the elite European competition would be enough to see them into the last eight.
FC Barcelona plays home to Olympique Lyon in the second leg of the champions league last 16 at the Camp Nou, with an aim of making it into the last eight of the competition.
Lyon the outright underdogs for this clash.
Lyon are in a very tricky situation and have a couple of factors that don’t favour them here. They’ve lost all their three away games with Barcelona, conceding a mammoth 10 goals. They have also out of their last nine Champions League knockout games lost seven on the road. The have not scored in the last four matches. A score or draw would be enough to see Lyon go through on away goals. Hence move up to the last eight.
Ernesto Valverde view
FC Bacelona head coach, might have been disappointed that his side could only get a goalless draw from the first leg in France. He went as far as to call 0-0 away from home a dangerous scoreline after the first leg. That outcome, combined with Ousmane Dembélé’s injury problems, will make this a night. There’s something a bit different when you prepare for a Champions League game. Every coach at every team feels it. Given how important the competition is and the prestige it has. Some big teams have been knocked out and nothing is impossible. We know how good Lyon are. They have some powerful players, especially in midfield and forward. But we are prepared to give our best. More-so, we have our supporters behind us all through the game. While Lionel Messi has pioneered Barça’s brilliant positive outcomes of domestic form since the match in Lyon. He has looked ever so slightly off his peak in recent games. An evening of high drama and world class football is assured.
He’ll however be buoyed by their strong home form in the Champions League.
Bruno Génésio view
Bruno Génésio, Lyon coach has his own view entirely on tonights game. My team have to play our own game, with freedom. We know it will be difficult against one of the best teams in the world, but we know we can do it because we have [won at Manchester City on match-day one]. We must show we belong at this level. Ajax’s result [against Real Madrid] gives us strength. Many things depend on Messi. We will develop a game plan to reduce his influence, but we must be able to take calculated risks. We must play with our last strength.
Previous meetings
The most recent of the sides’ six meetings before the first leg came in the 2008/09 round of 16. Barcelona winning 6-3 on aggregate en route to lifting the trophy. After a 1-1 draw in Lyon. The Spanish club were 5-2 victors at the Camp Nou, Lionel Messi scoring the third goal. Gerard Piqué also played in both games, with Sergio Busquets featuring at the Stade de Gerland. Those were the teams’ only previous knockout fixtures before the first leg. They both teams also met in the 2001/02 first group stage and the 2007/08 group stage. Barcelona won each home game without conceding. The also earned a win and a draw away in France. Messi scoring both home (3-0) and away (2-2) in the latter campaign. It’s really a big night tonight.
