Lyon v Beşiktaş background
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Article summary
Lyon have been scoring at a rate of four goals a game since entering the UEFA Europa League in the round of 32, making them daunting opponents for Beşiktaş.
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Having eliminated Roma in the round of 16, Lyon will look to take another famous scalp as they welcome Beşiktaş, the French side having scored at a prodigious rate since entering the UEFA Europa League.
Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.
• Lyon's record in ten games against Turkish teams is W5 D1 L4 (W3 D0 L2 at home; W2 D1 L2 away). Lyon have not faced Turkish opposition since the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage, when they beat Fenerbahçe 3-1 in Istanbul and 4-2 at home.
• Beşiktaş are unbeaten at home against French sides (W2 D1) but have lost all three of their previous games in France. Most recently, they won 2-1 at home and lost 2-0 away to Marseille in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Form guide
• Lyon have made a huge splash in the UEFA Europa League since arriving in the round of 32, scoring 16 goals in four matches – an average of four per game.
• Beşiktaş are unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League this season since transferring from the UEFA Champions League (W3 D1) and have yet to lose a UEFA game at their new Beşiktaş Park (W2 D3).
• Lyon were last in the quarter-finals in 2013/14, when they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Juventus (0-1 h, 1-2 a).
• Lyon's last semi-final was in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League, where they were eliminated by Bayern München. No French team has won the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League.
• Beşiktaş last reached a UEFA quarter-final in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, losing to Lazio. They have never been in a semi-final.
Links and trivia
• The journey from Istanbul to Lyon is around 2,000km.
• Beşiktaş's final goal against Olympiacos in the round of 16 second leg was their 250th in UEFA competition.
• Beşiktaş are the only domestic champions left in the UEFA Europa League this season.
• Beşiktaş's Vincent Aboubakar and Lyon's Nicolas Nkoulou are international team-mates with Cameroon. Aboubakar played in Ligue 1 from 2010 to 2015 with Valenciennes and Lorient.
• Beşiktaş's Serbian defender Duško Tošić also has Ligue 1 experience, having helped Sochaux win the 2006/07 French Cup in his lone full season in France.
The coaches
• Bruno Génésio took charge at Lyon in December 2015, but his links to the club go back much further. A local boy, he joined OL as a trainee in 1983 and represented Lyon as a midfielder from 1985 to 1995. He later worked as a scout and was assistant coach from 2011 to 2015.
• Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş famously guided Turkey to third place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. A goalkeeper who spent the majority of his playing career at home-town club Trabzonspor, he led Beşiktaş to the 2015/16 Turkish title in his first season in charge.