lyon faces sparta prague with summer european failures looming
Olympique Lyonnais, fresh off a 1-2 defeat to Sparta Prague in the Champions League third qualifying round first leg, hosts the Czech side in the return fixture tonight (9 PM). The match carries added pressure after Lyon’s three previous summer stumbles in European competition.
Should Lyon overcome this precarious third qualifying round tie against Sparta Prague tonight (9 PM) — despite Tuesday’s away loss (1-2) — and then navigate the playoff hurdle against either Fenerbahçe (TUR) or Sturm Graz (AUT) on August 18-19 and 25-26, all ambitions could suddenly become attainable. After all, during the 2009-2010 season — one of the club’s most successful in the Champions League, reaching the semifinals as it did in 2019-2020 — Lyon had progressed through the playoffs, sweeping aside Anderlecht (BEL, 5-1, 3-1) in August 2009.
For now, however, the specter of a fourth consecutive summer setback in European competition haunts the Rhône club. This follows earlier disappointments in 1999 and 2013 in the Champions League against Maribor (SVN) and Real Sociedad (ESP), and the 2014 Europa League humiliation at the hands of Astra Giurgiu (ROU). Below, we revisit these three blunders, the second less ignominious than the first or third — which might be described as nothing short of farcical.
August 1999 in the Champions League: the shock defeat to Maribor
Fresh off a major coup in the transfer market by signing Brazilian striker Sonny Anderson from FC Barcelona for 125 million French francs (€18 million) — a considerable sum at the time — Lyon, who had finished third in Ligue 1, approached the Champions League with enthusiasm, making their debut in the competition. Yet against the unfancied Slovenians of NK Maribor, the reality proved brutal. Lyon, then coached by Bernard Lacombe, first fell to a 0-1 home defeat in the third qualifying round first leg (August 10, 1999), undone by a late Filipovic strike (89th minute) despite dominating play.
The return in Slovenia on August 25 was even more disastrous, as Lyon slumped to a 0-2 defeat, goals from Simundza (24th) and Balajic (45th) exposing glaring impotence. The team that day featured, alongside Anderson, Tony Vairelles, Alain Caveglia, Vikash Dhorasoo, and Grégory Coupet. The following day’s headline in *L’Équipe* read: « Lyon, the summer flop ».
Relegated to the UEFA Cup, Lyon was then eliminated in the round of 16 by Werder Bremen (GER, 3-0, 0-4), after overcoming HJK Helsinki (FIN, 5-1, 1-0) and Celtic Glasgow (SCO, 1-0, 1-0). In Ligue 1, Lyon finished third again in May 2000 and was eliminated in the quarterfinals of both domestic cup competitions.
August 2013 in the Champions League: Griezmann’s revenge
Fourteen years later, Lyon was a club of an entirely different stature, having secured seven Ligue 1 titles (2002-2008) and reached a Champions League semifinal in 2010 (eliminated by Bayern Munich, 0-1, 0-3). Yet in August 2013, the Rhône outfit — having finished third in Ligue 1 in May — suffered another summer European setback. After dispatching Grasshopper Zurich (SUI) in the third qualifying round (1-0, 1-0), Lyon faced Real Sociedad in the playoffs, a club that had once deemed Antoine Griezmann too frail for its youth academy.
The French forward exacted his revenge in spectacular fashion. In the first leg on August 20 at Gerland, “Grizou” opened the scoring (17th) with a stunning left-footed volley that graced the front page of *L’Équipe* the next day. The Basque side went on to win 2-0 after Seferovic added a second (49th). In the return in Anoeta on August 28, the pattern repeated: Lyon, then coached by Rémi Garde and featuring Samuel Umtiti, Yoann Gourcuff, Alexandre Lacazette, and Nabil Fekir, suffered another 0-2 defeat, Carlos Vela netting twice (67th, 90th + 1).
Relegated to the Europa League, Lyon reached the quarterfinals (eliminated by Juventus Turin, 0-1, 1-2) but finished fifth in Ligue 1, was knocked out in the Round of 16 of the Coupe de France, and lost the Coupe de la Ligue final to PSG (1-2).
August 2014 in the Europa League: the ultimate humiliation against Astra Giurgiu
« We got hammered by a bunch of nobodies we didn’t even know! » With his customary colorful language, the late Bernard Lacombe, then vice-president and special advisor to president Jean-Michel Aulas, perfectly summed up Lyon’s ordeal in the summer of 2014 during the Europa League playoffs — a humiliating elimination at the hands of Romania’s modest Astra Giurgiu. Even a 1-0 away win in the return leg on August 28, courtesy of Jordan Ferri (23rd), could not erase the memory of the first leg.
