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Lyon vs CSKA Moscow Prediction & Betting tips
In the return in the eighth finals of the Europa League, Olympique Lyon defends a 0-1 lead from the first leg of its own Parc Olympique Lyonnaise on Thursday-evening. Opponent CSKA Moscow has to win on French soil anyway, but the Russians do not give up the fight yet.
Olympique Lyon:
Olympique Lyon is delighted, because for the first time in almost two months time the French finally managed to book two consecutive victories. After former PSV defender visited CSKA Moscow last week to head for a 0-1 victory, last weekend an old Eredivisionist was decisive for Olympique Lyon. Former Ajax player Bertrand Traore is one of the trendsetters in the team of trainer Bruno Genesio. Last weekend, the wing pits produced the only goal in the home game against Caen, which allowed Olympique Lyon to continue hoping for Champions League qualification. With the current fourth place in the French Ligue 1, however, the team is out of the game, while the deficit at number three Olympique Marseille is still a hefty five points. Upcoming Sunday evening a direct confrontation between the two teams will be on the program at Stade Velodrome and it will be clear that Olympique Lyon has to win that match.
Champions League qualification is obviously the main goal for Olympique Lyon, but it seems unlikely that Genesio will save players. The Europa League final will be played this season in its own Parc Olympique Lyonnaise, so the French will do everything to reach the final battle. Playing a European final for your own audience would of course be a dream come true, plus the second most important club tournament offers an extra chance to seize a Champions League ticket by way of a detour. However, Olympique Lyon can not appeal to star player Nabil Fekir again on Thursday-evening. With sixteen goals and six assists in 24 rounds in the Ligue 1 he is by far the best player of Les Gones and so he will be missed. Without him, Olympique Lyon has a hard time scoring, because in the last six official matches, the French did not score more than one goal.
CSKA Moscow:
CSKA Moscow is more or less the same boat as Olympique Lyon. The Muscovites can almost certainly write the Russian national title on their belly, but also Champions League qualification is hanging on a thread. The current third place in the Russian Premier League is in principle sufficient for the team of trainer Viktor Goncharenko, but it feels the hot breath of number four Krasnodar in the neck.
The focus of CSKA Moscow is mainly on its own competition, although the Russians also want to get as far as possible in the Europa League. It was therefore a big disappointment that the team came out of the paint last week for its own audience. The good news is that Vasili Berezutski is available again after a suspension. His identical twin brother Aleksei Berezutski got rest in the 0-3 won away match against Akhmat Grozny last weekend, but in the return against Olympique Lyon the Berezutski brothers will undoubtedly kick off again. It is also interesting to see what Goncharenko intends to do with former AZ player Pontus Wernbloom. The Swede is originally a midfielder, but is regularly used as a defender this season. In recent weeks, however, he is regularly used as an attacker. In the first game of last week, the number three formed an attack duo with former VVV’er Ahmed Musa. My expectation is that Wernbloom will start in the back, but that he will be summoned to more often as time goes for a Russian goal.
Lyon vs CSKA Moscow head to head matches
08.03.18 EL CSKA Moscow Lyon 0 : 1