There will be at least one French club in the quarterfinals of the Champions League! At the end of a difficult but solid match against Juventus Turin (1-1), the Lyonnais won their ticket for the "Final 8" in Lisbon. They had not reached this stage of the competition since 2010 and will challenge Manchester City, which eliminated Real Madrid from Karim Benzema and Zinédine Zidane.
Panenka from Memphis Depay
Everything started off perfectly for the Lyonnais, little intimidated by the armada aligned by the Bianconero coach, Maurizio Sarri. In the 10th minute, after a slight muddle, Houssem Aouar slipped into the Italian area and was mown down by Rodrigo Bentancur. The penalty was transformed, with audacity, by Memphis Depay, author of a panenka (0-1, 12th).
But as expected, Juventus Turin then multiplied the blows on the cage of Anthony Lopes. Thanks to an often late defense, the Italians recovered to the score after a free kick from Miralem Pjanic, transformed into a penalty after an unobvious hand from Memphis Depay. The essential Cristiano Ronaldo then did not tremble against Anthony Lopes (1-1, 43rd).
Ronaldo misses the hat-trick
The second period largely resembled the first, with Turinese very forward and Lyonnais hesitating between a very dense low block and forays into the opposing camp. It was during an attack from Juve that OL cracked for the second time, on a powerful and very well placed strike from Cristiano Ronaldo (2-1, 58th).
The Portuguese could even have become the savior of the "Old Lady" by scoring a goal from a free kick in added time. But the Lyonnais, who surpassed themselves defensively, were able to repel his attempt. And thus validate their ticket for this "Final 8" which seemed inaccessible to them before this double confrontation.