Lyon vs Arsenal facts

Lyon and Arsenal reunite at OL Stadium for the second leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final with the French side holding a 2-1 advantage after the first leg in London.

The deadlock was broken after 17 minutes at Arsenal Stadium on 19 April, with Lyon's Kadidiatou Diani scoring her sixth Champions League goal of the season. Arsenal responded 12 minutes from time through Mariona Caldentey but parity lasted only four minutes, Melchie Dumornay striking the winner for the visitors.

Previous meetings

2022/23 group stage
Lyon 1-5 Arsenal
Arsenal 0-1 Lyon
Injury-hit Lyon suffered their biggest ever European defeat on Matchday 1, Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead both scoring twice in a 5-1 win for Arsenal in France, Melvine Malard's first-half goal the hosts' only response.

A Frida Maanum own goal in first-half added time gave Lyon an away win of their own on Matchday 5, both sides ultimately progressing from Group C.

2010/11 semi-finals
Lyon 2-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-3 Lyon
Lotta Schelin got both goals in France as Lyon, en route to their maiden European title, secured a first-leg lead. Eugénie Le Sommer repeated the feat a week later at Meadow Park, Lara Dickenmann extending Lyon's advantage just before the break. Julie Fleeting and Ellen White reduced the deficit in the second half, but OL had already done enough.

2008/09 second qualifying round
Lyon 3-0 Arsenal
Schelin also struck twice, either side of a Camille Abily effort, as Lyon finished top of Group B3 ahead of Arsenal. Both sides progressed to the quarter-finals.

2007/08 quarter-finals
Lyon 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-3 Lyon
Lyon's debut European campaign brought them up against the Gunners in the last eight. After a goalless draw in France, Lyon progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of 3-2 win over the holders in England; Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey had put the hosts in front after Katia had given Lyon the lead, but strikes from Abily and Élodie Thomis turned the tie in favour of the French outfit.

Form guide

Lyon

Record vs English clubs W10 D3 L3 F24 A16
Home record vs English clubs W4 D1 L3

Before the first leg, Lyon's previous encounter with an English team was a 2022/23 quarter-final against Chelsea, the French side recovering from a 0-1 first-leg defeat at home with a 2-0 victory in London eight days later.

OL lost just one of their first 11 games against English clubs (W7 D3) but have been beaten in two of the last five (W3).

Lyon won four of their first six home games against English teams (D1 L1), but have lost the last two.

Lyon are through to their 14th European semi-final, six more than any other team, defeating Bayern München 6-1 on aggregate (2-0 a, 4-1 h) in the quarter-finals.

They have won 11 of their previous 13 semi-final ties, and have 11 successive victories since losing their first two. Last season they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 5-3 on aggregate (3-2 h, 2-1 a) in an all-French last-four contest.

Lyon boasted the best defensive record in this season's group stage with just one goal conceded in their six games. They scored 19 themselves in defeating Galatasaray (3-0 h, 6-0 a), Roma (3-0 a, 4-1 h) and Wolfsburg (2-0 a, 1-0 h).

Les Fenottes have scored 12 goals and conceded just twice in their four home games in Europe this season.

The French outfit reached a record 11th final last season, losing 0-2 to Barcelona in Bilbao. Their last success in the competition came when they defeated the same opponents 3-1 in the 2022 final in Turin – their eighth win overall.

In her first season at Lyon, Diani topped the scoring charts in the Women's Champions League last season with eight goals – two more than club-mate Ada Hegerberg, the competition's all-time record scorer. Diani has scored six goals in this season's competition, one more than Dumornay.

Lyon’s 2023 reverse to Chelsea is their last home defeat in all competitions. Their record at home since then is W35 D4.

A Lyon side coached by Sonia Bompastor – who was replaced in the summer by former Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro – won their 17th league title in 2023/24, losing just one game. Those 17 championship successes have come in the past 18 seasons, the exception in 2020/21 when they finished runners-up.

Arsenal

Record vs French clubs W1 D3 L8 F16 A23
Away record vs French clubs W1 D1 L3

Arsenal's most recent contest against French opposition before the first leg was a 3-3 draw with Paris FC in the round 1 final last season in Linköping. Paris FC ultimately progressed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

The Gunners have won just one of their 12 contests against French teams (D3 L8), losing seven of their last nine.

Their last away game against French opposition was that 5-1 group stage win at Lyon in October 2022; they had been winless in their first four away contests against French teams (D1 L3).

Alessia Russo and Caldentey lead the scoring charts for Arsenal in this season's competition with six goals each.

In a joint-record 16th quarter-final appearance – a record shared with Lyon – Arsenal progressed to an eighth semi-final this season after a dramatic quarter-final against Real Madrid. Following a 0-2 first-leg loss in Spain, Renee Slegers' side turned the tie around in the London return, second-half goals from Russo (46 59) and Caldentey (49) completing a memorable comeback.

Arsenal's last semi-final came in 2022/23, when they lost 4-5 on aggregate to Wolfsburg (2-2 a, 2-3 h aet). They have won only one of their previous seven European last-four ties – 5-2 against Brøndby in 2006/07 (2-2 a, 3-0 h).

The Londoners were crowned champions of Europe that season when they defeated Umeå in a two-legged final. Alex Scott's swerving effort from distance in the final moments of the first leg in Sweden was the only goal across both games.

The Gunners remain the only English club to win the competition.

This is Arsenal's 17th participation in the Women's Champions League; they competed in the group stage for a third time having missed out last season.

Their 2024/25 Women's Champions League journey began with a 6-0 win over Rangers on 4 September at Meadow Park, Foord scoring four, before they beat Rosenborg 1-0 in the round 1 final at the same venue three days later. In round 2, the Gunners lost 0-1 in the first leg away to Swedish side BK Häcken, but a 4-0 home victory in the second leg sent them into the group stage.

The English side went on to finish first in Group C ahead of Bayern, Juventus and Vålerenga after winning five of their six games (L1).

Arsenal have won only two of their five away games in Europe this season, losing the other three.

Arsenal finished third in the Women's Super League last season, five points behind both Manchester City and champions Chelsea, but former coach Jonas Eidevall did lead them to a second consecutive FA Women's League Cup title.

Slegers took over from Eidevall in October.

Key facts

• Lyon have won their previous four semi-final ties against English teams.

• They have lost only two of their previous 26 Women's Champions League semi-final matches (W17 D7).

• Lyon have lost only one of their last 21 European games (W18 D2).

• Dumornay has scored in five of Lyon's last six Champions League knockout matches.

• Diani has scored ten goals in Lyon's last eight home European fixtures.

• Arsenal have only failed to score in two of their last 18 Women's Champions League matches.

• The Gunners have never won the away leg of a two-legged European semi-final tie (D3 L4).

• Caldentey has scored in seven of her last ten Women's Champions League appearances.