Women's Champions League preview: Lyon vs Bayern

The top two in Group D meet in France as Lyon take on Bayern München in a battle of two of the four defences yet to concede in the inaugural UEFA Women's Champions League group stage.

• Lyon, joint top scorers along with Wolfsburg on eight goals, eased to victory last time out with a 5-0 success against Benfica, against whom Bayern could only manage a goalless draw on Matchday 1.

• All Les Fenottes' goals against the Portuguese champions came in a devastating 34-minute spell either side of the break, with Melvine Malard's 53rd-minute bicycle kick the highlight.

• Bayern were also in devastating attacking form on Matchday 2, going two goals up at home to Häcken in the opening 11 minutes thanks to Lea Schüller's quickfire double, before Linda Dallmann (70) and Jovana Damnjanović (90+1) added further strikes.

• Lyon were 2-1 victors against the Frauen-Bundesliga outfit in the 2019/20 quarter-finals.

Ones to watch: Lyon

Kadeisha Buchanan
• The 26-year-old, who celebrated her birthday on Friday, showcased her set-piece threat against Benfica on Matchday 2 with a pair of goals from corners.

• The defender had only scored once in her previous 25 UEFA competition appearances.

• Buchanan was in the Lyon side that beat Bayern 2-1 in the 2019/29 quarter-finals in Bilbao.

• The Canadian international has been part of Lyon's victorious UEFA Women's Champions League squad on four occasions, playing in the final wins of 2017 and 2020.

Ada Hegerberg
• The 26-year-old is still awaiting her first start since returning from over 18 months out due to an ACL rupture and a stress fracture in her left tibia, having made three further substitute appearances following her comeback game in the Matchday 1 victory in Gothenburg.

• The striker has scored more goals in this tournament than any other player (53), overtaking Anja Mittag's previous landmark of 51 in October 2019 with a double in the 7-0 second-leg home victory against Fortuna Hjørring in the round of 16.

• Hegerberg has scored in each of her last five UEFA Women's Champions League starts, a run totalling 12 strikes that includes a hat-trick in the 2019 showpiece triumph against Barcelona; that made her only the second player to score three goals in a final match, after Duisburg's Inka Grings ten years earlier.

• The former Norwegian international, who extended her stay with Lyon through to 2024 during her injury lay-off, has been the top scorer in two previous UEFA Women's Champions League campaigns, including a record 15 back in 2017/18.

Melvine Malard
• The 21-year-old is one of six players to find the net in both matchdays of this season's competition, with team-mate Catarina Macario another.

• Malard scored a stunning overhead kick against Benfica having also struck the first ever group goal just ten minutes into the 3-0 Matchday 1 victory against Häcken on 5 October.

• The forward's acrobatic effort on Matchday 2 made it seven goals in her last ten appearances in this competition, including qualifying.

• Malard, a product of Lyon's youth set-up, was the leading scorer as France won the 2019 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship in Scotland.

Ones to watch: Bayern

Saki Kumagai
• The 31-year-old joined the Bavarian outfit in May, following eight campaigns with Lyon where she lifted the league title in her first seven seasons.

• The midfielder, who can also slot into defence, appeared in OL's 2020 quarter-final win against Bayern.

• The Japanese international scooped five UEFA Women's Champions Leagues during her career with Les Fenottes, converting her spot kicks in final shoot-out wins in 2016 and 2017.

• Kumagai began her playing days with Saitama-based outfit Urawa Reds in her homeland, before starting her European career with German side FFC Frankfurt in 2011, and was part of their team that finished as runners-up to Lyon in the 2012 UEFA Women's Champions League.

Lea Schüller
• Schüller, who celebrates her 24th birthday on 12 November, scored twice in the opening 11 minutes of the 4-0 Matchday 2 defeat of Häcken.

• The forward, who made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut in Bayern's quarter-final loss to Lyon in August 2020, has now scored five times in her last eight outings in this competition.

• Schüller was the Bavarians' leading scorer in the top-flight last term, notching 16 strikes, including a treble in the 7-0 defeat of Werder Bremen in February.

• The Germany international made her league bow for Essen way back in December 2013, just weeks after her 16th birthday.

Carolin Simon
• The 28-year-old returned from injury to start the 4-2 DFB-Pokal victory against Frankfurt on 30 October having missed the opening two UEFA Women's Champions League group stage matches.

• The defender is in her third season with Bayern, after joining from today's opponents Lyon, where she made 14 appearances in all competitions in her only season with Les Fenottes.

• Simon was part of Lyon's treble-winning side in 2018/19, although she was an unused substitute for the 3-1 UEFA Women's Champions League final defeat of Barcelona.

• The German international won three UEFA Women’s Championships at youth level and was part of the side that were runners-up at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Key stats

• That 2019/20 quarter-final is the clubs' only previous UEFA Women's Champions League meeting, goals from Nikita Parris and Amel Majri giving the French side victory in Bilbao despite Simon's reply.

• Lyon have won their last five matches against German clubs in the UEFA Women's Champions League.

• Lyon have lost just one of their last 36 UEFA Women's Champions League matches.

• The French side have won 14 of their last 15 UEFA Women's Champions League home games.

• Lyon have won their 11 competitive matches this season, the last seven by a margin of three or more goals.

• Lyon have scored in 28 successive UEFA Women's Champions League matches, since a 0-0 draw against Manchester City in April 2018.

• Malard has scored seven goals in her last eight appearances for club and country.

• Bayern have won eight of their last ten UEFA Women's Champions League matches (D1 L1).

• The Bavarian outfit have kept five clean sheets in their last seven UEFA Women's Champions League matches.

• Bayern have only failed to score in one of their last 13 UEFA Women's Champions League matches.