Lyon are in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in seven seasons, but to progress further must now overcome a Barcelona side who have been eliminated only twice at this juncture of the competition – and who are unbeaten against the French club.
• While the French side are in the round of 16 for the first time since 2011/12, Barcelona have featured every year bar the first since its 2003/04 introduction – 15 years in a row – and have won 12 of their previous 14 ties.
• First in Group B this season, Barcelona have lost only one of their last 17 UEFA Champions League matches and are unbeaten this season, as are Lyon; Les Gones finished second behind Manchester City in Group F after drawing their last five games. This is the only round of 16 tie between two clubs who went unbeaten through the group stage.
Previous meetings
• The most recent of the sides’ six meetings came in the 2008/09 round of 16, when Barcelona won 6-3 on aggregate en route to lifting the trophy. After a 1-1 draw in Lyon, the Spanish club were 5-2 victors at the Camp Nou, Lionel Messi scoring the third goal. Gerard Piqué also played in both games, with Sergio Busquets featuring at the Stade de Gerland.
• Those were the teams’ only previous knockout fixtures. They met in the 2001/02 first group stage and the 2007/08 group stage; Barcelona won each home game without conceding and earned a win and a draw in France, Messi scoring both home (3-0) and away (2-2) in the latter campaign.
Form guide
Lyon
• This is Lyon’s tenth UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie, and a first in seven seasons. They won the first three ties but have lost five of the last six, most recently being beaten on penalties by APOEL of Cyprus in 2011/12.
• Lyon’s last victory in the round of 16 came at the expense of Barcelona’s great rivals Real Madrid, who they beat 2-1 on aggregate in 2009/10 (1-0 home, 1-1 away).
• Lyon have lost at home only once at this stage of the UEFA Champions League, 2-0 against Roma in 2006/07. Their home record in round of 16 matches is W5 D3 L1 – although they have not won an away game at this stage since 2005/06.
• Lyon’s record in two-legged knockout ties against Spanish clubs is W3 L3, most recently a 4-1 defeat of Villarreal in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (3-1 home, 1-0 away) – their last fixtures against Liga opposition.
• Les Gones won their first game in this season’s UEFA Champions League, 2-1 at Manchester City, before drawing the next five, qualifying for the round of 16 with a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six.
• That makes it just one defeat in ten European matches for Bruno Génésio’s side, who had scored two or more goals in six continental fixtures in a row before drawing at Shakhtar.
• All three of Lyon’s home games in Group F finished 2-2, against Shakhtar, Hoffenheim and Manchester City.
• A 3-2 defeat by CSKA Moskva in last season’s UEFA Europa League round of 16 is Lyon’s only home reverse in 13 European contests (W7 D5), since a 1-0 UEFA Champions League group loss to Juventus in October 2016.
• Lyon were UEFA Champions League semi-finalists in 2010 and are in the competition for the 15th time – more than any other French club.
Barcelona
• Barcelona have been in the round of 16 every year from 2004/05 onwards, winning 12 of those 14 ties. The Blaugrana lost two of their first three ties, most recently against Liverpool in 2006/07, but have won their last 11. In 2017/18 they beat Chelsea 4-1 on aggregate (1-1 away, 3-0 home).
• Barcelona’s last game with French opponents was a spectacular one as they produced the biggest comeback in UEFA Champions League history to win their 2016/17 last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. Barça looked to be heading out when they lost the first leg 4-0 in Paris, only for a stunning 6-1 second-leg success to turn the tie on its head.
• Barcelona are without a win in their last five away knockout games (D1 L4), since a 2-0 victory at Arsenal in the 2015/16 round of 16. That is their sole success in the last seven such contests, with five defeats in that sequence.
• Ernesto Valverde’s side won two of their three away games in this season’s group stage, at Tottenham (4-2) and PSV Eindhoven (2-1) either side of a 1-1 draw at Internazionale.
• That helped Barcelona finish first in their UEFA Champions League group for the 12th season in a row and the 20th overall – both competition records. They have reached at least the quarter-finals in all their last 11 UEFA Champions League campaigns, another competition record, losing in the last eight in the last three seasons; in 2017/18, they succumbed to a remarkable Roma fightback, going out despite a 4-1 home first-leg victory after losing 3-0 in Italy.
• Barça have won seven of their last 19 away matches in the competition, drawing six and losing the other six.
• The Blaugrana’s record away to French sides is W4 D3 L4; they have won on two of their last seven visits to France (D3 L2).
• Barça’s record in two-legged sides against Ligue 1 opponents is W4 L3; after losing the first three contests they have won the last four.
• Spanish champions for the 25th time – and third in four years – in 2017/18, Barcelona have been European champions on five occasions, most recently in 2015.
Links and trivia
• Samuel Umtiti joined Barcelona from Lyon in 2016. He came through the Lyon academy, making 131 league appearances and scoring three goals between 2012 and 2016.
• Have also played in France:
Clément Lenglet (Nancy 2010–17)
Ousmane Dembélé (Rennes 2014–16)
Malcom (Bordeaux 2016–18)
• Malcom scored four goals in four appearances against Lyon for Bordeaux, including two in a 3-3 draw at the Stade de Lyon in August 2017 and a penalty in Bordeaux’s 3-1 home win in January 2018.
• Has played in Spain:
Pape Diop (Celta Vigo 2014–17)
• Have played together:
Kenny Tete & Jasper Cillessen (Ajax, 2013–16)
• International team-mates:
Ferland Mendy, Tanguy Ndombele, Nabil Fekir & Ousmane Dembélé, Samuel Umtiti (France)
Jason Denayer & Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium)
Memphis Depay, Kenny Tete & Jasper Cillessen (Netherlands)
Anthony Lopes & Nélson Semedo (Portugal)
• Fekir, Umtiti and Dembélé were part of France’s victorious 2018 FIFA World Cup squad.
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