Manchester City vs Lyon Champions League quarter-final preview: where to watch, team news

Manchester City and Lyon meet at 21:00 CET on Saturday 15 August in the last of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in Lisbon.

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.

How did the teams get this far?

Man. City comfortably qualified as unbeaten winners of Group C and then served notice of their intent with an eye-catching 4-2 aggregate defeat of Real Madrid in the round of 16.

Lyon were grateful to an unbeaten home record as they edged the runners-up spot in Group G with just eight points. However, the round of 16 was a different story as they survived a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired comeback to oust Juventus on away goals.

Possible line-ups

Man. City: Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, D. Silva; B. Silva/Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling
Out: Agüero (knee)

Lyon: Lopes; Denayer, Marcelo, Marçal; Dubois, Caqueret, Guimarães, Aouar, Cornet; Depay, Dembélé
Out: none
Doubtful: Denayer (groin), Cornet (thigh), Tete (calf), Aouar (ankle)

Reporters' views

Simon Hart, Man. City reporter: For City, the beating of Madrid felt like a big moment – their first triumph in the knockout rounds over one of the continent’s elite clubs. Immediately afterwards, though, Josep Guardiola was quick to underline his respect for a Lyon side who took four points off City in last season’s group stage and who get the ball forward as quickly as any team in the competition.

Notwithstanding that note of caution, the way City defeated Madrid – a high-tempo, high-pressing template that included some terrific individual displays – augurs well for this next test.

David Crossan, Lyon reporter: Don’t expect Lyon to alter radically the plan that proved successful against Juventus. Maxwel Cornet was the scourge of City two years ago in the group stage and he has adapted well to his new wing-back position. Centre-half Marcelo will need to put in another huge performance if OL are to spring another shock, while Moussa Dembélé could come in for Toko Ekambi to partner former Manchester United man Memphis Depay in attack. The Dutchman has been terrific in this season’s competition.

Latest results

Man. City
Form: WWWLW (all competitions, most recent first)
Where they finished: 2nd in Premier League, League Cup winners

Lyon
Form: LDLLW
Where they finished: 7th in Ligue 1, League Cup runners-up

What the coaches say

Josep Guardiola, Man. City manager: "We know them quite well – incredibly well organised, so tight, so aggressive on frontal balls, so fast, people up front, the quality of wing-backs, good set-piece takers. They are a top team. We must be strong in our mind, knowing the game will be over when it's over and not before, and try to do our plan. In these games the mentality, the heart and the spirit leads to the other things. I think the players are ready to do it."

Rudi Garcia, Lyon coach: "I think the victory against Juventus needs to give us greater confidence. Of course, we do have greater desire – you get greater appetite once you begin eating, so to speak. Manchester City are naturally favourites for this tie but the start of the Champions League quarter-finals has shown potentially the odds can be overturned. We hope that comes tomorrow night – based on the first two matches the outsiders might be able to overturn the odds.”

Rule changes

From the quarter-finals, all matches are being played as one-off ties at two stadiums in Lisbon, Portugal; this game is being held at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Teams are able to make five substitutions but can only make these changes at three points in the game. These three occasions do not include changes at half-time, between the end of normal playing time and extra time, and at half-time during extra time. One additional substitution is allowed during extra time.

There are also more players to choose from: a total of 23 players is allowed on the match sheet instead of 18, something usually only permitted for the final.