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Tuesday 08 April 2025 10:00
Manchester United are set for a first competitive meeting with Olympique Lyonnais in 17 years this week.
The French top-flight outfit are our opponents in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, with the first leg set to take place at their Groupama Stadium home on Thursday night (20:00 BST).
It’s a big game for both teams approaching the latter end of a European competition, while Ruben Amorim’s Reds know that the tournament is the one remaining opportunity we have to win a trophy this season – a feat that, if achieved, will see us qualify for next season’s Champions League.
So, there will be plenty at stake as we bid to take a positive result from Lyon into next week’s return leg at Old Trafford. Ahead of the first clash in south-east France, here’s everything you may want to know…
HOW TO WATCH AND FOLLOW
TNT Sports 1 is the channel you need to watch the action live in the UK, while we’ll have exclusive global radio commentary streaming across MUTV, ManUtd.com and the United App.
Our Matchday Live show is due to start at 18:55 BST and will have over an hour of build-up for you from Old Trafford and the Groupama Stadium in France, followed by post-match reaction after the 90 minutes.
The United App is also the place to be to see the team news as soon as it’s released, follow minute-by-minute updates, track in-game data and watch the highlights once they’re available in the early hours of Friday morning.
TEAM NEWS
Harry Maguire’s substitution just before the 60th minute of Sunday’s Manchester derby was pre-planned according to Amorim, so the centre-back should be available to continue working his way back from injury in Thursday’s game.
Maguire’s defensive counterpart Matthijs de Ligt was sidelined for the derby, although full-back Luke Shaw was able to return to the matchday squad for the first time since 1 December, while midfielder Mason Mount made his second successive appearance off the bench after nearly four months out.
Recent absentee Kobbie Mainoo has been injured since February’s FA Cup win over Leicester, but is edging closer to a comeback after returning to training recently. Amorim could provide the latest on the midfielder during Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, which you will be able to see across our platforms after it has been conducted in France.
Wednesday morning’s live training show on MUTV, ManUtd.com and the United App – scheduled to get under way at 10:30 BST – may provide some prior clues to who may be involved in the first leg, before we bring you the travelling squad later in the day.
For Lyon, we know they’ll definitely be without key attackers Malick Fofana and Ernest Nuamah for this Thursday’s meeting, due to knee injuries they’ve suffered in the last few weeks. The pair accounted for four of Lyon’s seven goals in the last round against FCSB, and are sure to be a miss.
OPPOSITION REPORT
Our opponents currently occupy fifth spot in France’s top division, Ligue Un, and go into Thursday’s game buoyed by a 2-1 victory over top-four rivals Lille on Saturday.
Highly rated young midfielder Rayan Cherki (pictured below) netted a 70th-minute winner to decide that clash and is very much one to watch on Thursday night. His eight assists in this season’s Europa League is already a joint-record by a player in a season, tied with former Atletico Madrid man Diego’s tally from the 2011/12 campaign.
Like United, Cherki and co also finished among the top eight in the competition’s league phase and, after receiving a bye through the knockout round play-offs, they beat Romanian outfit FCSB 7-1 on aggregate in the last 16.
Those two European ties were overseen by interim boss Jorge Maciel, who has won five of his six matches in charge since stepping in for head coach Paulo Fonseca, who was suspended from carrying out his matchday duties until November following a recent confrontation with a referee.
OUR HISTORY WITH LYON
You may remember that we played a friendly against Lyon in pre-season 2023, but our last competitive meeting with Les Goneswas en route to lifting the 2008 Champions League in Moscow.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side edged past the French club in the last 16, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the only goal of the second leg at Old Trafford, after the first half of the tie was drawn 1-1 at Lyon’s former Stade de Gerland home. Future Real Madrid star Karim Benzema had netted the opener, before Carlos Tevez notched a crucial late away goal for the Reds.
That knockout battle was four years after our first two duels in the group phase of the 2004/05 Champions League.
Ruud van Nistelrooy proved to be the scourge of Lyon that term, bagging a brace to help United come from 2-0 down to take a point in France, before getting the winner in the reverse meeting at the Theatre of Dreams – a 2-1 triumph to mark Sir Alex’s 1,000th game in charge.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner in our last competitive contest with Lyon.
ELSEWHERE IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE
Our game is one of four quarter-final first legs taking place on Thursday, as the road to Bilbao begins its next stage.
The return matches are set to take place seven days later, on 17 April, with Lyon or United due to face the winner of the clash between Rangers and Athletic Club in the last four.
All focus for the Reds and the other teams involved will be on the task immediately at hand however, so here’s this week’s all-important schedule…
THURSDAY 10 APRIL
Bodo/Glimt v Lazio (17:45 BST)
Lyon v UNITED
Rangers v Athletic Club
Tottenham Hotspur v Eintracht Frankfurt
Kick-offs are 20:00 BST unless stated otherwise.
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Tuesday 08 April 2025 10:00
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