Paris (AFP)
Olympique Lyonnais, very disappointed, was hooked at home by Zenit St. Petersburg (1-1) while Inter Milan snatched the point of draw (1-1) in injury time against Slavia Prague, Tuesday in the first two games of the inaugural day of the group stage of the Champions League.
At Groupama Stadium, the Lyonnais did not reassure themselves against the champions of Russia who obtained a logical draw on the whole of a meeting that the players of Sylvinho will have too rarely been able to pack.
Zenit had cooled the mood four minutes before the break (41st) by opening the score by the Iranian Sardar Azmoun, at the start and at the conclusion of a beautiful one-two with Artem Dzyuba.
OL, however, managed to equalize, thanks to a penalty converted by Memphis Depay (51) and whistled for a foul on himself. The Dutch striker scored his fifth goal of the season after the four successes in Ligue 1.
The Lyon fans could then begin to dream, but they finally had no opportunity to be enthusiastic, except on a few shy occasions. And OL loose two valuable points in the race to the round of 16 in Group G where Benfica hosts Leipzig Tuesday night.
This evening also sees in the group H Lille in battle on the field of Ajax Amsterdam, seductive semi-finalist last year.
In Milan, in the group F, Inter, however leader of the Italian Championship after three days, was very disappointing against a surprising team Slavia Prague who can leave frustrated his trip to Giuseppe-Meazza.
The Czechs logically opened the scoring with their excellent Nigerian center-forward Peter Olayinka who took a close shot by Jaroslav Zeleny pushed back by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic (63).
Slavia, clearly dominating, then continued to attack but lacked precision in the last move on several occasions.
Finally, the team of Antonio Conte managed to snatch the draw in overtime on a victorious recovery of Nicolo Barella at the reception of a direct free kick from Stefano Sensi, returned by the cross.
Romelu Lukaku, little seen, even had the ball of the game just seconds from the end but his head at point-blank, on a pass from Stefano Sensi, the best Italian on Tuesday, was diverted masterfully by the Czech goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
© 2019 AFP