Wendie Renard during OL – Arsenal in the Champions League (Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP)
By winning 4-0 against Wolfsburg in the quarter return, OL Lyonnes validated their ticket for the Champions League semi-finals. The Lyonnaises will meet Arsenal, who had been their tormentor last season at the same stadium.
Was this an additional motivation when approaching the quarter-final second leg against Wolfsburg ? The Lyon locker room will be careful not to say it. However, this must have added a little extra to the desire to flex the muscles and qualify for the semi-finals. Because, in addition to once again finding the last four of the Champions League, OL Lyonnes will find Arsenal. An opponent that the Lyon club knows well having already encountered them in the league phase last September. But make no mistake, this double confrontation (April 25 or 26 and May 2 or 3) will above all seem like déjà vu. That of the same duel at the same stage last season.
Fox: “Revenge, a word I don’t really like”
Jonathan Giraldez wasn’t there yet, but the Spanish coach is well aware of the mountain that lies ahead of his team. “We played against them during the league phase. We have time to prepare for this match but I don’t like to talk about revenge. It’s still a football match, we’re going to put all the chances on our side to qualify for the final, but yes, they remain the reigning European champion.”
The deadline is only three weeks away and a Coupe de France semi-final and an international break will fill this void. So after the victory against Wolfsburg (4-0), it was still a little early for Fenottes to plan on the trip to the Emirates. What if Wendie Renard also refuses to talk about “revenge, a word I don’t really like”finding the London club necessarily has a special feeling.
Damaris: “We have this match inside us that still hurts”
Like the FC Barcelona in recent years, no one has forgotten the English demonstration at Parc OL in the semi-final second leg. A defeat and an elimination which further precipitated Joe’s fall Montemurro and which remain a very big black spot from last season. “If we win, we will qualify for the final, but that won’t make up for last season’s opportunity,” he said.assures the Lyon captain. But with what happened, of course it’s all in our heads. The past is in the past but we must use it.”
The OL Lyonnes group has certainly evolved a lot over the past year, the coach is not the same. But the feeling of a missed appointment twelve months ago is still there among the survivors. “We have something inside us that still hurts, but we want this revenge, that’s for sure”Damaris finally admitted The log. There will be this little extra thing at the end of the month to erase the previous failure.
Leave a Reply