Lyon vs Juventus Champions League preview: where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news

Lyon welcome Juventus in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on 26 February at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news, quotes and expert analysis as kick-off approaches.

Where to watch the game on TV

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

Since the group stage

Lyon
Form: WDWLDLWWDWWWWDWL
Latest: Metz 0-2 Lyon, 21/02
Where they stand: 7th in Ligue 1, French Cup semi-finals, League Cup final

Juventus
Form: WWDLWLWWWWWLWW
Latest: SPAL 1-2 Juventus, 22/02
Where they stand: 1st in Serie A, Coppa Italia semi-finals

Possible line-ups

Lyon: Lopes; Denayer, Marcelo, Marçal; Dubois, Guimarães, Tousart, Aouar, Cornet; Toko Ekambi, Dembélé
Out: Depay (knee), Reine-Adélaïde (knee), Koné (ankle), Rafael (ankle)
Misses next game if booked: Koné

Juventus: Szczęsny; Danilo, Bonucci, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Ramsey, Pjanić, Bentancur; Cuadrado, Ronaldo, Dybala
Out: Demiral (knee)
Doubtful: Khedira (knee), Higuaín (back), Douglas Costa (thigh)
Misses next game if booked: Matuidi

Expert predictions

David Crossan, Lyon reporter: Having experimented with a 3-4-3 for the league win at Metz on Friday, Rudi Garcia is set to retain the system as Lyon attempt to deal with Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. This Lyon team are perhaps not as strong as the side that fell to Barcelona at this stage a year ago, and the club’s home form has been indifferent, but they are still capable of raising their game on the day.

Paolo Menicucci, Juventus reporter: Maurizio Sarri is yet to find stability in his midfield with several players showing inconsistent form. Giorgio Chiellini’s return from injury will boost the defence even if he will need more time to return to full fitness. The attack, however, looks lethal. A 4-3-3 with Paulo Dybala deployed as a false nine is allowing Ronaldo to shine. The Portugal forward has just equalled the Serie A record of scoring in 11 consecutive games and tends to be a shark who sniffs blood when the UEFA Champions League knockout stage rolls round. Enough to make the Bianconeri favourites in the tie.

What the coaches say

Lyon coach Rudi GarciaAFP via Getty Images

Rudi Garcia, Lyon coach: "Juventus play the same way that Napoli and Empoli did under Sarri. He is a tactically astute coach: no doubt about it. We all thought Liverpool and Paris would win [in last week's first legs]. Now it's our turn to take our chance, and show our best form. We'll need to do that to do well in the first leg against Juve. And let's hope they do not play to 100% of their potential. If we just defend, we won't win the game. If we are to do prosper, we'll need our fans' support to find more energy and to be on our top form."

Maurizio Sarri, Juventus coach: "Lyon are a technical team with elements of great acceleration and physicality. They are a dangerous team so we have to put in a great performance. Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who is appreciated all over the world. His stats say enough about the state of his form. He is an enthralling player, and is well both from a physical and mental point of view. In Italy we have an obligation and responsibility to win. In Europe we are amongst ten other teams with this goal."

Previous meetings

• This is the sides' fifth match, all in the last six years. Juve won three of the first four fixtures, including a pair of 1-0 victories in France.

• The teams first met in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, Leonardo Bonucci scoring the only goal of the first leg at Lyon's former home, the Stade de Gerland, five minutes from time. Andrea Pirlo increased Juve's aggregate advantage four minutes into the Turin return and, although Jimmy Briand's 18th-minute strike gave OL hope, a Samuel Umtiti own goal midway through the second half sealed Juventus's place in the semi-finals.

• In the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League group stage, Juventus again secured a narrow victory in France, Juan Cuadrado getting the only goal with 14 minutes left at the OL Stadium on Matchday 3. The Bianconeri looked set for another narrow victory at the Juventus Stadium thanks to Gonzalo Higuaín's 13th-minute penalty, but Corentin Tolisso earned Lyon a point with five minutes left.

• Juve went on to finish first in Group H, third-placed Lyon moving into the UEFA Europa League, where they reached the semi-finals.

Form guide

Lyon 
• Lyon squeezed into the last 16 as Group G runners-up having picked up eight points from their six games, one more than both Benfica and Zenit. Held 1-1 at home by Zenit on Matchday 1, Lyon then won 2-0 at eventual section winners Leipzig before a 2-1 defeat at Benfica. They turned the tables with a 3-1 home win against the Portuguese side only for a 2-0 defeat at Zenit to leave their hopes in the balance again – and when Leipzig raced into a two-goal lead at the OL Stadium, Lyon were in peril before second-half goals from Houssem Aouar and, eight minutes from time, Depay salvaged the point they needed to make sure of progress.

• Despite those defeats at Benfica and Zenit, Lyon have lost only four of their last 18 European matches (W6 D8).

• When Lyon's Rayan Cherki came on as a substitute at Zenit on Matchday 5, he became, at the age of 16 years 102 days, the second youngest player to appear in the UEFA Champions League – after Celestine Babayaro, who was aged 16 years 87 days when he played for Anderlecht against Olympiacos in November 1994.

• Third in Ligue 1 last season, this is Lyon's 16th UEFA Champions League campaign – four more than any other French club – and fourth in five seasons.

• This is Lyon's 11th round of 16 appearance, where their aggregate record is W4 L6. Having won their first three ties, they have lost six of the last seven, the most recent win against Real Madrid in 2009/10 (1-0 h, 1-1 a).

• Les Gones were eliminated by Barcelona in last season's round of 16 (0-0 h, 1-5 a).

• Lyon drew all four home games in last season's UEFA Champions League, and have now won one of their last eight home European matches (D6 L1).

• However, a 3-2 defeat by CSKA Moskva in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 16 is Lyon's only home reverse in 17 European contests (W8 D8), since that 1-0 loss to Juventus in October 2016.

• The French club's record in two-legged knockout ties against Italian clubs is W2 L5. They had suffered five straight eliminations before winning the most recent contest, against Roma in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (4-2 h, 1-2 a).

• Lyon's last games against a Serie A side came against Atalanta in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League group stage (1-1 h, 0-1 a). That 2017 home win against Roma is OL's only success in their last nine matches with Italian sides, home and away (D2 L6).

• Lyon were UEFA Champions League semi-finalists in 2010.

Juventus
• The Bianconeri won five of their six Group D games to finish six points clear at the top. They dropped points only in their first fixture, Maurizio Sarri's first European game as Juventus coach, being pegged back by two late Atlético Madrid goals in a 2-2 draw in Spain, but went on to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in Italy and Lokomotiv Moskva 2-1 home and away. A 1-0 home win against Atlético and a 2-0 success at Leverkusen made it six wins in their last 11 UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L3).

• Gianluigi Buffon's appearance in Leverkusen made him the second oldest player to feature in the UEFA Champions League, aged 41 years 317 days. The only older participant is another Italian goalkeeper, Marco Ballotta, who played for Lazio against Real Madrid in December 2007 aged 43 years 252 days.

• This is Juventus's 11th UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie (W7 L3); they have won the last three, producing a memorable comeback against Atlético 12 months ago (0-2 a, 3-0 h) thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's second-leg hat-trick.

• In 2018/19, under Massimiliano Allegri, Juve finished first in their group and, after turning round their last-16 tie against Atlético, drew 1-1 at Ajax in the first leg of their quarter-final only to bow out following a 2-1 home defeat.

• Juve were without a victory in four European away matches before winning at Lokomotiv on Matchday 4, and made it two successive victories at Leverkusen last time out. A 2-1 loss at Young Boys on Matchday 6 last season ended Juve's five-match winning run in UEFA Champions League away matches.

• This is Juve's first two-legged tie against a French club since they defeated Monaco in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League semi-finals (2-0 a, 2-1 h) to make it 12 aggregate wins out of 12 against Ligue 1 opponents.

• Higuaín scored both goals in that 2017 win at Monaco, Juve's third victory in their last four trips to France (D1).

• Juve are unbeaten in eight matches against French sides, home and away, since a 2-0 loss at Bordeaux in the 2009/10 group stage. Their record since is W6 D2.

• Champions of Italy for a record eighth season in a row in 2018/19, this is Juve's 20th UEFA Champions League campaign.

• Winners in 1985 and 1996, Juventus have played in nine European Cup finals – losing a record seven, including all of their last five.

Links and trivia

• Miralem Pjanić made 90 Ligue 1 appearances for Lyon, scoring ten goals, between 2008 and 2011. He was a Metz player between 2004 and 2008.

• Buffon spent 2018/19 with Paris Saint Germain, making 17 league appearances including a 5-0 win against Lyon at the Parc des Princes on 7 October 2018.

• Blaise Matuidi (2011–17) and Adrien Rabiot (2010–19) also played for Paris.

• Matuidi also represented Troyes (2004–07) and St-Étienne (2007–11) in French football while Rabiot spent the second half of 2012/13 on loan at Toulouse.

• Higuaín was born in the French city of Brest, when his father Jorge was playing for the local club.

• Lyon coach Rudi Garcia was in charge of Roma between 2013 and 2016, when Pjanić was part of the Italian club's squad; Roma finished second in Serie A behind Juventus in each of Garcia's first two seasons.

• Have played in Italy:
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Roma 2014/15)
Joachim Andersen (Sampdoria 2017–19)
Ciprian Tătărușanu (Fiorentina 2014–17)

• Have played together:
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa & Miralem Pjanić (Roma 2014/15)
Rafael & Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United 2008/09)
Bertrand Traoré & Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax 2016/17)
Ciprian Tătărușanu & Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina 2014–17)
Ciprian Tătărușanu & Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina 2014)
Bertrand Traoré & Juan Cuadrado (Chelsea 2015)

• International team-mates:
Anthony Lopes & Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Léo Dubois & Blaise Matuidi (France)
Kenny Tete, Memphis Depay & Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands)
Rafael & Alex Sandro, Danilo, Douglas Costa (Brazil)