Lyon vs Paris Saint-Germain Women's Champions League preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, starting line-ups

Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain face off at 17:00 CET on Sunday at OL Stadium in the first leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final, the latest chapter in a French rivalry that has become a regular fixture on the European as well as domestic scene.

This is the sixth time – in the space of eight seasons – that the pair have faced off at some stage of this competition, equalling the record of Lyon and Wolfsburg. The second leg will take the number of individual UEFA club competition matches between the teams to ten, level with the mark reached earlier this season by Wolfsburg and Chelsea.

Lyon have traditionally held the edge, just as with most teams, and an aggregate victory would earn them an unprecedented tenth final appearance. However, Paris are the only team to knock OL out of Europe in the last eight years, with victories in the 2014/15 round of 16 and the quarter-finals last season, when they also ended Lyon's run of 14 straight domestic titles.

Lyon have the edge this season in the league thanks in no small part to a 6-1 defeat of their rivals at OL Stadium in November, but Paris won their French Cup tie 3-0 in January. Meanwhile, Lyon captain Wendie Renard – who got the 2020 semi-final winner – could become the first player to 100 UEFA women's club competition appearances while in goal for OL should be Christiane Endler, so crucial to Paris's successes last season prior to her summer move. Suspended Damaris Egurrola and injured Dzsenifer Marozsán and Janice Cayman miss out for Lyon but Selma Bacha and Melvine Malard are fit.

Form guide

Lyon
Last six games (most recent result first): WWWLWD
Last match: Fleury 91 1-2 Lyon, 17/04
Where they stand: 1st in Division 1 Féminine

Paris
Last six games: WDDWWW
Last match: Paris 6-1 Issy, 16/04
Where they stand: 2nd in Division 1 Féminine, Coupe de France final

Starting line-ups

Lyon: Endler; Carpenter, Buchanan, Renard, Bacha; Horan, Macario, Henry; D Cascarino, Hegerberg, Malard

Paris: Votíková; Lawrence, Ilestedt, Dudek, Karchaoui; Fazer, Geyoro, Däbritz; Diani, Katoto, Baltimore

View from the camps

Sonia Bompastor, Lyon coach: "The last results against PSG were not close, each fixture had a particular context, Sunday it will be different. We will have two quality teams, it will be decided on small details. We have to be focused."

Didier Ollé-Nicolle, Paris coach: "I consider Lyon to be a very good team, made up of internationals. [Ada Hegerberg] is one of the best in the world, Wendie Renard... we no longer need to introduce them. They are a team with a lot of experience, a lot of solidity. But I also think that we have a very good team, and I want us to be very ambitious, to play. We don't have the style to defend too much, we will have to use the ball very well, we will need technical accuracy."

Wendie Renard, Lyon captain: "There is concentration. There is no point in playing the game before kick-off. Everyone is motivated and focused and we have to stay that way. We have to work out the last details against a team that we know very well because these are tight games and small details count a lot. We will work in training on set pieces and attacking and defensive movements to be able to put them into difficulty."

Barbora Votíková, Paris goalkeeper: "We know our opponents well, it's historically a big game in the league, so we know them well. We have already played them twice this season, and we won the match in the Coupe de France. It's a good thing to know them, but it's the same for them. We are 100% focused on ourselves, and we want to reach the final."