Olympique Lyonnais – CSKA Moscow

Olympique Lyonnais hosts CSKA Moscow in a second leg from the 1/8-finals of the Europa League. The game is going to be played at the Groupama Stadium in Lyonnais.

The French side have an advantage after the 1-0 win in Moscow. Marcelo scored the only goal for Olympique Lyonnais at the VEB Arena, putting CSKA in a really complicated situation. The Russian side hoped for a good result at home, expecting a tough rematch in Lyonnais, but it didn’t happen. Now the French team is in the position of a favourite.

CSKA’s task in this match is difficult. They must score at least one goal to have chances to progress, but in same time they must try to avoid conceding a goal. And it’s difficult against a team with the offensive talent of Olympique Lyonnais. Especially when you play at their own ground. Of course, CSKA Moscow have quality players and they shall not be written off, but Lyonnais are the team in the better position at the moment.

In the French Ligue 1 Olympique Lyonnais are currently 4th, trailing on 5 points behind the 3rd Olympique Marseille. The big goal in front of Lyonnais is beating Marseille for the 3rd spot, as it guarantees a participation in the Champions League playoffs. But they need to be really consistent until the end of the season, if they want to have a proper chance.

Meanwhile CSKA Moscow are 3rd in the Premier League standings, trailing on 8 points behind the leader Lokomotiv Moscow. In their last five games CSKA are almost perfect – four wins and just one loss against Spartak. But can they erase such a huge deficit behind the leader?

This is our examination of the Europa League clash between Olympique Lyonnais and CSKA Moscow. Good luck!