Champions League Preview: Manchester City vs. Lyon lineups, scores after Barca shrunk 2-8 by Bayern

Bayern Munich hit eight scores against Barcelona’s net in a single match with astonishing 8-2 win in the Champions League quarterfinals. Not since the 1940s had the beleaguered Catalans conceded that much. Tonight matchup of Manchester City vs Lyon is the last of the Champions League quarter-final
August 15, 2020 | 08:12
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Bayern Munich crushes Barcelona for semifinal spot 8-2

On a humiliating night in Portugal for Barcelona, Bayern became the first team to score eight goals in a Champions League knockout match, while Barca conceded eight in a match for the first time since 1946, CNN reported.

Thomas Muller opened the scoring within five minutes for Bayern, before Austrian defender David Alaba sliced into his own net to level the score.

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ObtaJoe tweeted: "2015 - Luis Suárez has scored his first Champions League goal away from Camp Nou for the first time since September 2015 vs Roma at the Stadio Olimpico; he went 1,952 minutes and 69 shots without scoring at other venues. Hope. #UCL."

However, three goals in 10 first-half minutes helped the Bundesliga champion assert its dominance, with Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry and Muller's second stretching its lead before the break.

In the second half, Luis Suarez reduced the deficit for Barcelona but a mazy assist from left-back Alphonso Davies for Joshua Kimmich to tap in, a Robert Lewandowski header and a late Philippe Coutinho double helped Bayern progress to the last four, where it will face either Manchester City or Lyon who play Saturday.

"It's tough to explain. I think in this moment, our team is in an incredible shape," Muller told BT Sport after the match.

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Barcelona conceded eight goals in a game for the first time since losing 8-0 to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey Last 16 in 1946.

"We work so hard, we work with this intensity, I think for everybody out there is tough to beat us. We had so much fun. For our style of players, it doesn't matter about the names of players we are facing.

"Of course, they have special players and we have to be even more aggressive and even more able to bounce back again and again. We feel good after this match, this result. It was very special."

The UEFA Champions League resumed its 2019-20 season earlier in August after going nearly five months without a match. The Champions League, like the rest of the sports world, came to a halt in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, CBSSports.

UEFA then gave domestic leagues a chance to finish their seasons before resuming the competition for Europe's top club soccer prize on Aug. 7. The competition will have a finish unlike any other in its history this month, and every game the rest of the way is streaming on CBS All Access.

The 2019-20 Champions League season resumed in the knockout round, with four round of 16 second legs ealier this month to set the quarterfinal field. The last matchups in the next round are underway: Manchester City vs. Lyon wraps up the round Saturday.

Preview: Manchester City vs. Lyon - prediction, team news, lineups

The Citizens knocked out perennial winners Real Madrid over two legs in the last round, while Lyon stunned Italian champions Juventus to progress, according to Sportmole.

Given the unique nature of this season's Champions League, with the quarter-finals onwards being played out in Portugal over the course of a couple of weeks, City's focus is solely on this competition.

Pep Guardiola has previously joked that he would be nothing more than a "failure" if he fails to win the competition during his time with City, and on the face of it there is no better time to lift the famous trophy than this season.

After finishing second in the Premier League and exiting the FA Cup at the semi-final stage, Guardiola knows that there is even more weight on his shoulders to go all the way this time around.

City may have been helped by some shocking defending from the usually reliable Raphael Varane, but they took their chances when they arrived and were comfortable winners in the end.

That famous victory made it three wins in a row for EFL Cup winners City in all competitions, and six victories in their last seven, scoring 23 goals and conceding only four during that run.

Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir were on target as Les Gones secured a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium, followed up with a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture - another match that saw Lyon dominate the midfield battle.

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Guardiola has a habit of overthinking knockout ties, trying to get into the opposition's head with his team selection, and it may well be that he focuses closely on those two matches - even if there has been a small turnover of players at both clubs.

Rudi Garcia's men showed exactly what they are capable of against Juventus in the last 16, edging through 2-2 on away goals despite Cristiano Ronaldo's best efforts in the second leg last week.

Lyon looked a little rusty against Juve last time out and that is not at all surprising given that it was just their second competitive game in five months, the other being a defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de Ligue final on July 31.

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This will be Lyon's first appearance in the quarter-finals of the Champions League since 2009-10, and they have progressed from just one of their previous four games at this stage, eliminating Bordeaux in 2009-10.

City are competing at the last-eight stage for a fourth time in five seasons, meanwhile, but they have advanced from just one of those previous ties - knocking out PSG in 2015-16 - and will certainly not take anything for granted on Saturday.

Team News

City face being without Sergio Aguero until the final four if they reach that stage, but Gabriel Jesus deserves to lead the line after impressing in both legs against Madrid.

Indeed, Jesus has been directly involved in more Champions League goals for City this season than any other player (nine – six goals and three assists).

Benjamin Mendy is back from suspension, though Guardiola may well opt to stick with Joao Cancelo in that position for this one, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is another option.

In midfield, David Silva and Bernardo Silva are pushing for recalls to the starting XI, but Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo and Kevin De Bruyne are expected to retain their places.

In terms of Lyon, Moussa Dembele was left out for the second leg against Juve but will surely be brought back into the side on Saturday.

Memphis Depay scored in that most recent match and has now netted in six successive Champions League games, so he is nailed on to start in attack and is one to watch.

Former City defender Jason Denayer, who spent four years at the Etihad Stadium without getting a look-in, will start in what is likely to be a back three for the French side.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodrigo, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Denayer, Marcelo, Marcal; Dubois, Caqueret, Guimaraes, Aouar, Cornet; Dembele, Depay.

Manchester City 2-0 Lyon

City and Lyon picked up impressive results in the last 16, knocking out Madrid and Juventus respectively. The French side cannot be written off, then, but they have lost four matches in a row either side of the coronavirus hiatus and finished seventh in the shortened Ligue 1 campaign.

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