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Europa League preview: United v Lyon
Tuesday 15 April 2025 08:00
Manchester United’s Europa League quarter-final with Lyon is poised on a knife edge, as we approach Thursday’s second leg.
Rayan Cherki’s injury-time equaliser in France levelled the scores at 2-2, after goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro had threatened to give us an advantage heading back to Manchester.
Ruben Amorim’s men thrashed Real Sociedad 4-1 in our last European match at Old Trafford and a similar performance and result would be most welcome as we bid to keep our season alive.
Here’s what you need to know before the first whistle on Thursday…
90 in 20: Lyon v United Video
90 in 20: Lyon v United
EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | The standout action from our trip to the Groupama Stadium…
HOW TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
The second leg is being broadcast live on TNT Sports in the UK, with kick-off set for 20:00 BST.
Join us on MUTV for Matchday Live from 18:55 BST, where we’ll have the breaking team news, exclusive interviews and analysis from Wes Brown and David May.
The United App is the place to be during the game itself, with radio commentary, trending stats and even live scores from the other quarter-final ties.
Match highlights will be available from midnight.
TEAM NEWS
The Reds welcomed Luke Shaw back at Newcastle United on Sunday, as the England international returned from his four-month lay-off during the closing stages.
Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount were also involved off the bench, and Amorim has a decision to make in regards to whether any of the trio is able to perform from the start against Les Gones.
Casemiro and Harry Maguire were unused substitutes as Ruben rotated, presumably with Thursday in mind, but Joshua Zirkzee is set to miss out after pulling up clutching his hamstring at St James’ Park.
Andre Onana was left out on Tyneside, with Altay Bayindir playing in his stead, while Amad, Toby Collyer, Matthijs de Ligt, Jonny Evans and Lisandro Martinez have all been injured.
Like Amorim, Paulo Fonseca also made five changes to his side, as Lyon won 3-1 away at Auxerre. We await news on Fonseca’s travelling squad but Ernest Nuamah is out for the rest of the season, after being injured against Lille a week ago.
Tanner Tessman and Paul Akoukou were both okay at the weekend after initially being flagged as doubts. Malick Fofana is closing on a return and could hope to feature. Former Red Nemanja Matic started in midfield after being an unused substitute in the first leg.
Full 90: Lyon v United Video
Full 90: Lyon v United
FULL 90 | Watch every kick from Lyon v United in the Europa League quarter-finals…
PAST MEETINGS
This will be Lyon’s third competitive visit to Old Trafford and the French outfit are still looking for their first win in M16.
A 2004 Champions League group-stage game went United’s way, 2-1, with Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring the winner after Mahamadou Diarra had levelled Gary Neville’s opener.
Four years later, Cristiano Ronaldo helped the Reds edge a tight last-16 tie against Alain Perrin’s side. The Portuguese found the bottom corner just before half-time, giving United a 10th straight home victory in Europe and a 2-1 success on aggregate.
DID YOU KNOW?
United remain unbeaten in 11 Europa League games this season (W6 D5). The last time we began a European campaign unbeaten across our opening 11 matches we eventually went on to lose 3-1 in the 2010/11 Champions League final against Barcelona.
Since the start of last season, Rasmus Hojlund has recorded 12 goal contributions for Manchester United across European competition (10 goals, 2 assists). Among Premier League players to have recorded 10 or more in that time, only Mohamed Salah (80) and Bukayo Saka (88) have a better minutes-per-goal contribution ratio than the Denmark international (96).
We’ve won each of our last four home Europa League matches, last winning more in a row in the 2019/20 campaign. The Reds have lost one of our last 29 home games in the competition (W22 D6).
Thanks to Opta.
QUARTER-FINALS
Here’s how the other ties stand, going into the second legs this Thursday…
Athletic Club 0-0 Rangers
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Lazio 0-2 Bodo/Glimt
All kick-offs are 20:00 BST.
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Tuesday 15 April 2025 08:00
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