Lyon look to sign off at Gerland with Gent win
Monday, November 16, 2015
Article summary
Bottom side Lyon have to beat Gent to retain any hope of Group H progress on the night that the Stade de Gerland will host European football for the final time.
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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.