Red Devils Rewind

A look back at the last time Lyon and Manchester United faced each other in European competition some 17 years ago

This Thursday Lyon host Manchester United in their biggest game of the season – indeed, the club’s biggest since its Champions League semi-final date with Bayern Munich five years ago. Les Gones will be cautiously optimistic: the opponent they face is far from the fearsome force it used to be. However, the problem is, fans of the Red Devils will probably be saying the same about this latest version of Lyon, a club that hasn’t won any silverware since lifting the Coupe de France in 2012.

It's a far cry from the last time the two sides met some 17 years ago in the rarified setting of the Champions League final 16. The tie not only brought together the reigning domestic champions of England and France but the two undisputed dominant forces in their respective leagues. While United had just won their second consecutive league title, Lyon were on the verge of winning a record breaking seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title.

Nonetheless, this first leg final 16 tie presented Lyon with a level of opponent unlike any it had faced in Ligue 1. Let’s look back at the night when Messrs Edwin Van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez travelled to the Stade Gerland one chilly Wednesday night on the 20^th February 2008.

First blood to Benzema

It was a contest that started slowly, with few chances for either side in the first period. The biggest moment of the half was created by the visitors when Giggs, making his 100^th Champions League appearance, sent Rooney clear on goal. The United dangerman’s effort was unconvincing but was still smothered well by the legs of Gregory Coupet. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Lyon’s best opportunities revolved around their own star striker, 20-year-old Karim Benzema. Closely marked by Vidic, the striker finally found himself free following a Juninho corner, only to scuff his effort straight at Van der Sar, and was similarly wasteful when he blasted well over the bar after a pinpoint pass from Francois Clerc.

Within nine minutes of the second half Lyon’s main man found his range with deadly precision. Collecting a pass from Jeremy Toulalan on the edge of the United penalty box, Benzema showed remarkable balance and poise to spin away from two defenders before unleashing a low left-footed pile driver past Van der Sar.

With their tails up the hosts looked to double their lead. Van der Sar saved well from Clerc, before Lyon’s dead ball maestro, Juninho, came close with an audacious 35-yard effort. As the clock ticked down, substitute Hatim Ben Arfa tiptoed through a crowd of defenders before blasting high over the bar.

Late sucker punch

As is so often the case, those missed opportunities to put the first leg beyond doubt proved to be costly. Unable to stretch a Lyon backline that had been ably managed by Sébastien Squillaci and Jean-Alain Boumsong, Sir Alex Ferguson opted to inject some pace into his forward play – switching out Giggs and Scholes for Nani and Tevez. The changes gave the visitors some renewed impetus and with the probing, precise forward passes of their third substitute, Michael Carrick, started to press Lyon further and further back. Still, very few efforts were made on Coupet’s goal until the 85^th minute when the Lyon keeper was called into action to tip a powerful Ronaldo free kick over the bar.

It was from the resulting corner that the English champions delivered the inevitable sucker-punch. After failing to clear the original corner kick, a cross from the right by Nani was unwittingly defected into the path of Tevez by Fred. With the goal at his mercy, the Argentine striker lifted the ball high beyond Coupet’s despairing dive and into the roof of the net. With just three minutes of normal time remaining the tie was level again, and the visitors were leaving a deflated Stade Gerland with an unlikely but invaluable away goal.

However, in the end, it didn’t prove decisive as Ronaldo’s only goal of the game, his 30^th of the season, settled the tie at Old Trafford. Although Kader Kieta came close to equalising with an effort that thumped back off the post, Lyon lacked the same verve they’d demonstrated in the first leg – as if still stunned by Tevez’s late equaliser a week earlier.

Both sides went on to finish their respective campaigns in fine fashion. United wound up as Champions League winners and successfully defended their Premier League title. Lyon shook off the disappointment of their Champions League exit to retain their league title too and secured their first Coupe de France victory in 35 years – achieving a maiden domestic double. The season would, however, signal the end of Lyon’s dominance. Never again would they lift the Ligue 1 title and just three years later the Qatar Sports Investments group acquired a stake in PSG that would transform the balance of French football for over a decade.

Neither Lyon or United are any like the sides they were when they last met but glory in the Europa League will offer a way back to Europe’s top table and the return of famous Champions League nights, albeit through the backdoor. Both clubs have well publicised financial issues and the riches of qualification to Europe’s top table would help solve a lot of problems… Thursday’s contest may not be as glamorous as the last time these two met but the stakes couldn’t be higher.