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Paris (AFP)
Lyon against Manchester City! It is the surprise poster of one of the quarterfinals of the Champions League next week in Lisbon after the feat of OL, beaten 2-1 by Juventus of Cristiano Ronaldo but qualified, and the elimination of Real Madrid by Zinédine Zidane, punished by City (2-1).
– Lyon in Lisbon in suffering –
Lyon suffered, but Lyon is in the quarterfinals of the Champions League! After his 1-0 victory in the first leg in February and in a tense and electric round of 16 return, OL resisted the move of Cristiano Ronaldo, double scorer (43rd sp, 60th), to win in under an away goal signed Memphis Depay (12th sp).
Here is the surprise guest OL of the “Final 8” of the C1 next week in the Portuguese capital (12-23 August), while the club had not tasted the quarterfinals of the event since 2010.
It’s a sweaty feat for Rudi Garcia’s side, who didn’t master much and shivered until the end. This does not guarantee anything for the quarter-final, scheduled for Saturday 15 against City, but it is already a great success for a team which has had a missed season (7th in L1) and shortened by the coronavirus pandemic.
In front of the empty stands of Juventus Stadium, before the final whistle of the deliverance, there was an unclear penalty for a tackle by Rodrigo Bentancur on Houssem Aouar, transformed from a panenka by the Lyon captain Memphis Depay (12th ).
And then, a second penalty, even less obvious than the first, accusing Depay of having countered a free kick with his arm.
The inevitable Ronaldo transformed on the wrong foot (43rd). Then he placed Juve a small goal in qualifying with a cannon shot from the left (60th), his 130th goal in C1 from the group stage.
Last year, “CR7” had signed a hat-trick against Atlético (0-2, 3-0) at the same stage. But this time the Portuguese was not enough. And it is Lyon that will see Lisbon, with the desire to play the spoilsport …
– City release Real, nightmare for Varane –
Real Zinédine Zidane ended up biting the dust: unbeatable in direct European confrontations since his debut on the sidelines, “Zizou” had a resounding first failure when he saw his team lose 2-1 against Manchester City, the same score as that conceded in the first leg, and to come out without glory from the C1.
This is the second consecutive elimination in the round of 16 for the great Real, 13 times crowned in C1. And for the second season in a row this defeat came without its captain and defensive boss Sergio Ramos, suspended for this second leg in England as a year earlier against Ajax Amsterdam (1-4) – a sinking which had precipitated the return of “ZZ” on the merengue bench.
Without Ramos, the best defense in Europe cracks. And she collapsed on Friday with Raphaël Varane, who was expected to turn into a substitute boss. Patatras: the French offered two goals to Mancuniens and precipitated the rout of his team.
In this enticing coaching duel between Zidane, triple winner of the C1 (2016-2018) and Pep Guardiola, twice crowned with Barcelona (2009, 2011), the all-terrain pressing claimed by the Catalan technician has earned Varane the being dispossessed of the ball by Gabriel Jesus, who served Raheem Sterling as in the parade (9th).
A gag goal that immediately put Real in the hard. The Spanish champion club did not lower its head, equalizing thanks to Karim Benzema, scorer with a splendid head stung in suspension (28th).
But this improvement did not mask the defensive bankruptcy of Real, saved several times by his Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (47th, 65th).
And Varane, still lost, put away with a too soft head towards his porter. In fox, Gabriel Jesus beat Courtois (68th) to send Manchester City to Lisbon, send the gang to Zidane in Madrid and dismiss Varane in the purgatory of clumsy defenders.
© 2020 AFP
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