If a trophy can be simultaneously on the line and yet feel a million miles away, then that’s the prospect when Lyon face Manchester United in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
By Karl Matchett
Progress, or just halting the slide?
The bookies might list the Red Devils as second-favourites for this particular trophy, but it’s hard to suggest that’s anything other than optimistic on the evidence of performances and results under Ruben Amorim so far. United might have seen off Real Sociedad with ease and European cup competition certainly provides a mental release from their domestic struggles, but even so they don’t look to have the consistency, the quality or the belief at present to beat a succession of teams in the latter stages of a big competition.
And yet, a single result can change much. Going to France and earning a decent first-leg scoreline might raise spirits, expectations and ambitions to such an extent that those failing to find their feet in the Premier League suddenly look £30, 40, 50m players again. And so there remains hope that while this will undoubtedly be United’s worst-ever season in the Premier League era in positional terms, they might yet salvage something from the campaign to give a springboard for next year.
End-of-season sprint
By contrast, Lyon will head into the tie in arguably the form of their season and, while they are nowhere near the favourites in terms of odds to lift this trophy, that might not be hugely relevant to the tie. The Ligue 1 side have, for example, lost only once in this competition all season – an irrelevant league phase defeat to a Beşiktaş side who didn’t even make the playoffs. They’ve already beaten Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt too, two more sides left in at the last eight stage. Should they really fear this Manchester United?
Recent form
Lyon have won eight of their last ten matches in all competitions, with the only defeats coming to PSG and Strasbourg in that time. Paulo Fonseca has his team scoring plenty, with former United man Nemanja Matić a regular in midfield and the super talented Rayan Cherki finally showing the end product to go with his undoubtedly outsized potential. As for United, it’s three wins in ten over a similar timeframe, with those victories against the aforementioned Real Sociedad plus relegation-bound Leicester and Ipswich. It doesn’t inspire terror, despite a 0-0 draw with Man City.
Team news
Malick Fofana is Lyon’s big absentee, so Cherki and Georges Mikautadze should both be handed starting roles – the latter may be up front rather than from wide. For the visitors, Matthijs de Ligt is the doubt in defence but Kobbie Mainoo may be fit to feature in midfield.
Key player
The Georgian, Mikautadze is a creator as well as scorer for Lyon, averaging four shots per 90 in this competition. He’s 90th percentile or better for box touches, dribbles, assists and shots in the Europa League.
Prediction
A home win, but not enough of one to end the tie: Lyon 1-0 Man United.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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