Olympique Lyon gave a surprise by eliminating Manchester City in the 2019-2020 Champions League. Les Gones – the nickname of Lyon – stopped Man City in the quarter-finals which took place at the Alvalade Stadium, Sunday (16/8/2020) early this morning.
Man City actually appeared to be dominating the game. However, Lyon managed to reduce the play of Ilkay Gundogan and colleagues very well.
Launching from the Sportskeeda page, Sunday (16/8/2020), here are 5 reasons for Lyon’s success in beating Manchester City in the 2019-2020 Champions League.
5. Rudi Garcia Finds the Right Tactic
Garcia and Lyon got the right tactics in this match. Forming three defenders at the back and playing on the counter attack until the substitution of players made them succeed in reducing the dominance of the opponent’s game.
The 64-year-old coach lowered a 3-5-2 formation to dampen Man City who appeared with a 4-3-3. Defensive tactics by relying on counterattacks are chosen to win.
4. Man City’s decision to bring in Nathan Ake is considered too slow
The back line should be Manchester City’s focus since the winter transfer market yesterday. The departure of a Vincent Kompany should be replaced with the right figure so that the team’s defense remains solid this season.
Pep Guardiola’s decision to appoint Eric Garcia is also considered too risky. In fact, Manchester Blue has several more senior defenders such as Nicolas Otamendi or John Stones
3. Maxwel Cornet is back to being a scourge for Man City’s back line
Maxwel Cornet also became one of the important players in Lyon’s success when he beat Man City in the 2019-2020 Champions League quarter-finals earlier today. Thanks to his goal in the first half, Lyon players are increasingly confident to win a ticket to the semifinals.
Maxwel seems quite familiar with the Manchester City goal. At the meeting of the two teams last season, the Ivory Coast player also managed to score several goals against Ederson Moraes.
2. Match Format Only One Leg
It is undeniable that UEFA’s decision to make the matches in the quarter-finals and semifinals last one leg had quite an impact on team play on the field.
The players must aim for the goals as quickly as possible but are also required not to make mistakes that can have a big impact on the final result.
1. Lyon Benefited by the French League Competition which was finished early
Another factor that is also likely to have an effect is the advantage of Lyon because the French League competition has finished earlier than other competitions. As is known, since the Corona virus pandemic attacked mainland France, the organizers immediately decided to end the season and appointed PSG who was in the top rank as champion.
This decision seems to have a good impact because Lyon has long enough time to make better preparations.
