Departures are expected from the surprise European semi-finallists and the head coach does not yet know which of his stars will be on their way
Rudi Garcia is unsure what the future holds for his Lyon stars after their “unexpected” run to the Champions League semi-finals.
Lyon fell to Bayern Munich 3-0 in the semi-finals in Lisbon on Wednesday to end their European run.
Departures are expected at Lyon, who finished seventh in Ligue 1 and missed out on European competition for 2020-21, with Moussa Dembele, Houssem Aouar and Memphis Depay linked with moves.
Lyon head coach Garcia said he was unsure what was ahead, but felt his players proved their quality in the Champions League.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told a news conference. “What is clear after the success we’ve had here, an unexpected one, is this team would have deserved to make it even further, but it’s difficult to answer this question. We have a great squad and we’ll see.
“In terms of finances, it’s not up to me to answer, it’s up to the club president and the sporting director, but when we look at the team, I didn’t have to make it to the Champions League semi-finals to know how good my players are.”
It’s been some #UCL ride…
Thank you for your amazing support along the way! pic.twitter.com/LahY3RkT8D
— OL English (@OL_English) August 19, 2020
Lyon were left to rue wastefulness against Bayern, squandering several chances before a Serge Gnabry brace and Robert Lewandowski’s late goal. Garcia lamented his side’s inability to take their opportunities against the Bundesliga champions.
“They were just efficient, clinical. You have to say the team who were more clinical won it,” he said. “We hit the post. If we’d scored at that point the match might have been very different, but I like how my players followed the game plan. We defended very well and Karl [Toko Ekambi] had that chance.
“We weren’t fully attentive when we conceded the first goal. We could have played with more width at times and been faster in possession and played with that width. We managed to do a better job in the second half but when you’re trailing Bayern Munich 2-0 it’s difficult to come back.
“We played some good long balls, we attacked well at times and had some good spells. We gave them some problems and we had two more great chances with Moussa and Karl. We just had some bad luck and weren’t clinical enough in those situations.
“I feel Bayern are a great team and they deserved the victory. The way they played, we have to congratulate them. It’s true we gave them some problems, but they scored that third goal and that finished off the match.”
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