The biggest surprise of the previous year’s Champions League is undoubtedly Lyon, which surprised the big favorites in the previous two elimination rounds and slipped into the semifinals, which is a huge success for him. Now he has an extremely tough nut to crack again, as Bayern has long been considered the biggest candidate for the overall triumph and his performances are absolutely incredible, as this year LM was able to control all nine matches.
Unexpectedly, two French and two German selections were among the four best teams of the most prestigious European club competition. While PSG dominated the opening semifinals on Tuesday, a clear move by the Munich giant is now awaited. He won in the basic group B without a single lost point, in the round of 16 he did not give any chance to London Chelsea (3: 0, 4: 1) and in the quarterfinals he completely demolished the famous Barcelona with a very humiliating result of 8: 2.
“No one has to tell us how strong our opponent is and what he can do, his current performance is absolutely fantastic. However, the appetite grows with food and we now have a huge motivation to make it to the finals, even though none of us expected too much. “Of course, it depends on what Bayern does. He doesn’t have any significant weaknesses at the moment, but no team is perfect. We have to believe in ourselves.” Lyon coach Rudi Garcia said positively.
Olympique had a rather unpleasant period in Ligue 1, as the competition there was prematurely terminated due to the coronavirus epidemic and the current seventh place was not enough for him to participate in the upcoming European Cups. In the basic group G, after a big fight, he finished second by a point ahead of Russian Zenit and Portuguese Benfica, among the top 16 he came across the Italian Juventus and after a home win of 1: 0, a 1: 2 defeat in retaliation was enough for him to advance.
However, he took care of the complete sensation mainly on Saturday, when he stepped on the dominant Manchester City and won 3: 1 thanks to excellent productivity. Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes also knows his stuff, and with his interventions he often drove Citizens crazy. “We will play the semifinals, which is extremely exciting for me. We are very lucky to present ourselves against a team like Bayern. We managed to eliminate Manchester City, now we want to try the same again.” Lopes said firmly.
Neither team has to deal with big problems with Marodka at the final tournament in Lisbon. Garcia will have a complete selection and will certainly want to surprise with his tactical plan, his counterpart Hans-Dieter Flick will probably not deploy the French defender Pavard, who would definitely like to play against his compatriots. The two opponents on Wednesday last encountered each other in 2010 also in the semifinal phase of the LM and the German club was more successful (3: 0, 1: 0).
Flick subdues optimism before the duel and is well aware that the fabulous success with Barcelona does not have to be repeated. “We won by a big difference, but we still have two extremely difficult steps ahead of us. Lyon clearly shows how much strength it has and it is not advisable to underestimate it. Nevertheless, I trust my players as much as possible, we have to play with the same intensity as against Barcelona for ninety minutes. “
