Winner 1-0 in the first leg, Lyon has a feat to validate against Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo, Friday, in Turin, in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League. Even though Juve recently won their ninth consecutive Italian league title, Lyon have reason to firmly believe in their chances. 

Beaten 1-0 in Lyon in the first leg, Juventus is in a very precarious balance before the knockout stages of the Champions League, Friday in Turin, at 9 p.m. She will rely as often on Cristiano Ronaldo to avoid an elimination which would be disastrous. Why do Lyon have their chances against Juve? The Turinese were certainly crowned champions for the ninth consecutive time and Ronaldo ended the season with a superb record of 31 league goals. But on closer inspection, there are more reasons for concern than reassuring elements. An observation that pushes the Lyonnais to believe in a victory on Friday. 

Juve already back to the wall twice ...

In the last two seasons already, the Turin club had presented itself with its back to the wall at the meeting of the round of 16 second leg. Two years ago, things were badly started after a 2-2 conceded in Turin against Tottenham, and they were even more so after the opening of the English score on the return. But in five minutes, the Argentine duo Dybala-Higuain had straightened the Old Lady.

Last season, even worse. Beaten 2-0 by Atlético in Madrid, the Piedmontese needed a feat to go to the quarterfinals and had entrusted this mission to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese had taken care of everything, scoring a hat-trick saving Juve once again. 

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... finds himself very vulnerable

On paper, catching up with a late goal against Lyon, an opponent more modest than Tottenham or Atlético, is therefore not such a complicated affair. But Juventus are not in good shape. Out of the last eight matches of the season, the Bianconero club have taken only eight points. Traditionally strong, his defense has conceded 43 goals this season, including 19 in the last ten games, an enormity.

And the post-confinement has shown the Old Lady even more vulnerable. The real concern of the tifosi lies in the loss by their club of its usual benchmarks: refusal of defeat, defensive strength, ability to defend an advantage. Rudi Garcia and the Lyonnais inevitably noticed. In the first leg, OL had done well against already mediocre Turinese and they are in a strong position since a goal scored would put the Italians in immense difficulty.

Fatigue and injuries among Turinese

The recovery was intense and the workforce is overflowing with injured players (Douglas Costa, Khedira, Dybala) or flushed (Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi, Bonucci). In the best of cases, the sad performances at the very end of the season can be explained by a concentration already turned towards the Champions League. At worst, Juventus really have heavy legs.

Victim of a strained left thigh, Dybala, named this week best player of the season in Serie A, is in any case still uncertain. His absence would be very disabling for coach Maurizio Sarri who, despite assurances from his management, knows he is playing big on Friday. His first season did not have the collective brilliance expected and a moderately convincing scudetto and two defeats in the Cup final and in the Supercup will not be a sufficient record in the event of failure on Friday. But Sarri has Ronaldo, the man with five Champions Leagues won and 129 goals in the event. Even when you have sore legs and a small face, the Portuguese is a kind of comprehensive insurance.

OL have a "soul"

Still, Lyon has reason to believe in the feat against Juventus. Of course, OL can fear a certain lack of rhythm, with only one official match played since the end of the championship: the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against Paris SG, lost on penalties. But the club delivered a solid game and confirmed the correctness of the passage to 3-5-2, a pattern that had greatly upset Juve in the first leg.

And this final "frustrating" lost against PSG showed that this Lyon team has "a soul", said winger Maxwel Cornet. "We are all working hard together to move in the same direction for the same goals, Paris and now Juventus. We have worked very well. It was difficult, but we did not give up." 

"Losing on penalties was very frustrating but it gives us confidence for the game against Juventus because we showed a lot of positive things and we will have to use it on Friday," he added. The Turinese, for their part, will not lack rhythm but perhaps gasoline after a grueling end of the Italian season, made up of matches played every three days in the heat of July.