Lyon look to sign off at Gerland with Gent win

The Stade de Gerland will host European football for the final time on UEFA Champions League matchday five when Olympique Lyonnais take on KAA Gent.

• Lyon move into their new ground in the new year, making this the valedictory European night at a ground which first staged a competitive continental fixture in 1959.

• Bottom of Group H, Lyon will be desperate to mark the occasion with their first victory of the campaign against a Gent side three points better off in third place.

• Gent can secure themselves at least a third-place finish, and condemn Lyon to fourth, if they win or get a draw that keeps them ahead on the head-to-head front.

Match background

Lyon
• The Ligue 1 side need to win – and for Valencia CF not to beat FC Zenit – in order to retain any hope of progressing from the group.

• Lyon are still looking for their first point – and goal – at home in this season's competition after defeats at the Stade de Gerland against Valencia (0-1) and Zenit (0-2).

• Hubert Fournier's men will want to avoid two unwanted firsts: Lyon have never before suffered three home defeats in a single European campaign, nor have they gone through a UEFA competition group stage without winning a match.

• It was in 2002/03 that Lyon last failed to qualify from this stage of the UEFA Champions League. They progressed to the knockout phase every season from 2003/04 to 2011/12.

• Lyon's home record against Belgian sides is P5 W5. Their most recent home game against visitors from across the border was a 5-1 UEFA Champions League play-off win over RSC Anderlecht in 2009/10.

• Lyon played their first European home game at the Gerland on 14 January 1959 – a 1-1 draw with FC Internazionale Milano in the Inter-Cities Fairs' Cup.

Gent
• The tournament newcomers earned their first UEFA Champions League group stage victory when beating Valencia 1-0 on 4 November.

• Their hopes of reaching the last 16 will be over if they fail to win against Lyon and Valencia beat Zenit in Russia.

• Gent lost both of their away games to date, at Zenit and Valencia, by the same 2-1 scoreline – and each time equalised at 1-1 before conceding again.

• Gent were knocked out by Ligue 1 opponents on their solitary previous appearance in a UEFA competition group stage. In the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League, they were poised for qualification for the last 32 only to lose 3-0 at LOSC Lille on matchday six. The teams had drawn 1-1 in Belgium.

• Gent have never won in France. Their away record against Ligue 1 opposition is: P3 L3.

Coach and player links
• As a player, home coach Fournier was in the first Lyon team to win in Belgium – 4-3 at Club Brugge KV in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup third round. Steed Malbranque also played as the Ligue 1 side secured a 5-3 aggregate success.

• Hein Vanhaezebrouck's short stint as coach of KRC Genk in 2009 included home (1-2) and away (2-4) defeats by Lille in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-off round. Prior to this season, these have been his only two matches as a coach in UEFA club competition.

• Nabil Fekir struck his first goal for France's senior team in their 4-3 home defeat against Belgium in June. Mathieu Valbuena scored too, with a penalty, for Les Bleus.

• Players who have played together:
Milan Biševac and Stefan Mitrović (Serbia)

Match facts

Lyon
• Maxime Gonalons is suspended following his red card on matchday four. Jordan Ferri and Samuel Umtiti are a booking away from a ban.

• Lyon's run of five Ligue 1 fixtures unbeaten ended with a 3-0 loss at OGC Nice on Friday.

• Umtiti (thigh) was injured in Lyon's 3-0 defeat of AS Saint-Étienne on 8 November. Alexandre Lacazette's hat-trick secured the points.

• Biševac (out since 3 October, hamstring) has resumed full training. Clément Grenier (thigh) and Gueïda Fofana (ankle) are yet to play this season.

• Aldo Kalulu injured his left ankle – sprain and ligament damage – in training on 13 October and was signed off for two months.

• Fekir, a scorer of four goals in as many Ligue 1 appearances in 2015/16, suffered ligament and meniscus damage to his right knee on his first start for France, a 1-0 victory in Portugal on 4 September.

Gent
• Laurent Depoitre and Kenneth Saief will incur a suspension with their next bookings.

• Gent suffered their first league defeat since 24 May, ending their 14-game unbeaten run, when they lost 3-1 at home to R. Charleroi SC on 8 November.

• Gent were beaten again, 1-0 at second-tier KMSK Deinze, in a friendly on 12 November.

• They responded by putting five without reply past Eerste Klasse strugglers KVC Westerlo on Friday, Sven Kums scoring twice in Gent's biggest victory since 28 January 2012. 

• Erik Johansson featured in both legs of Sweden's UEFA EURO 2016 play-off victory over Denmark.

• Thomas Matton (foot), Hannes Van Der Bruggen (stomach muscle) and Nicklas Pedersen (ankle) are still out.