Lyon (AFP)

By eliminating Juventus Turin (1-0, 1-2) in the Champions League on Friday, Lyon maintained their European dream thanks to a state of mind finally at the rendezvous. A soul to which this team will have to cling to sign a new feat against Manchester City, next Saturday in the quarterfinals.

In a match, anything is possible against any opponent, the Lyon players want to convince themselves. The maxim certainly corresponds to the format of the "Final 8" of the Champions League and its choppy matches ... But, applied to the round of 16 return lost in Turin on Friday, it quickly reaches its limits.

No matter: Lyon held their feat thanks to their victory in the first leg (1-0) and the goal scored away by Memphis Depay, from the penalty spot, and wants to believe in the birth of a group that has finally found a soul.

"That's what I told the players in the locker room. We can be a great team, competitive at the highest level and we have just joined the top eight in Europe. They saw that if we put in the effort , if we are united ... ", admitted coach Rudi Garcia.

"The physical preparation has been optimal, we demonstrate it, but it is especially the mind which is above," he continues.

Solidarity, group, collective ... The bell sound is identical on the side of the goalkeeper Anthony Lopes: "The group was quite incredible collectively and individually. It is the victory of a whole group", he was delighted.

"We have the ambition to go far because we did not know how to seize the qualification in the European Cup against PSG (July 31, defeat in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue), noted Lopes. We know that we have to win this Champions League to be European next season. We have the right to say it and to do it. We cannot stop believing in it and moving forward together ".

- Offensive efficiency to find -

As against PSG in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue (defeat 0-0, 5-6 tab), OL indeed displayed unfailing solidarity, which was far from the case this season in the league where he finished 7th, with a defensive solidity that was not his trademark.

But Rudi Garcia's team, again aligned in 3-5-2, remains harmless in attack in the two official matches it has just played, with no shot on target outside the penalty against Juventus.

"I like this organization which allows us to fight with the best even if I think we can improve it on the offensive plan", admits the Lyon technician.

Will he have time by Saturday and the confrontation against Manchester City, whose weak point seems to be defense?

Memphis Depay, despite a few good shots, remains visibly short of pace after having surgery on the right knee in December, while Moussa Dembélé is still looking to score his first goal in C1 this season.

Karl Toko Ekambi, tenured in place of Dembélé against Juve, or Jeff Reine-Adelaide who is also coming back from a left knee operation, also seem a little short.

Between now and the quarter-final, OL will have eight days to recover, hoping not to have lost their left-back Maxwel Cornet who suffers from muscle discomfort. “Otherwise, we'll have to reinvent ourselves,” Garcia warns.

But it is not so easy with a limited workforce, offering few solutions to the Lyon coach to maintain the level of the team. This is what penalized OL last season when it had to do three matches a week, a pace that now awaits if it reaches the final. Here too, OL will rely on its collective.

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