Olympique Lyon stymie Barcelona in 1st leg of Champions League tie

Lyon: Favourites Barcelona were held 0-0 by Olympique Lyon in the first leg of their Champions League knockout stage tie.

The visitors dominated possession on Tuesday, 63 per cent to 37 per cent, and outshot the French club 25-5, but lacked precision in front of the Lyon goal, leaving everything to be decided next month when the teams meet at Barcelona's Camp Nou in the second leg, reports Efe news.

In a signal to his charges not to underestimate the Lyon attack, Barça coach Ernesto Valverde started the more-defensive-minded Sergi Roberto in the midfield instead of Arturo Vidal.

The Catalan side were largely able to play their preferred high-press style and keep the ball away from their opponents. But youthful, spirited Lyon have the talent to test even a team of Barcelona’s caliber.

The first opportunity of the night in front of 59,000 spectators at Groupama stadium in Lyon belonged to the hosts. Barça goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen turned aside a shot by Houssem Aouar in the fifth minute before sending Martin Terrier’s strike bouncing off the cross-bar four minutes later.

Those chances turned out to be the closest Lyon would come to scoring and the initiative passed to Barcelona after the first quarter-hour, though they managed to put only two of their 13 first-half shots on target. Ousmane Dembele forced a save from host keeper Anthony Lopes in the 19th minute and grazed the post with a shot in the final stretch of the first half, which also saw Lyon defender Jason Denayer deny Sergio Busquets when the keeper was caught out of position.

Little changed after the break and again, it was Lyon who created the first threat, a shot by Memphis Depay in the 52nd minute that went wide.

Depay and Moussa Dembele (no relation to Ousmane) continued to penetrate the Barça zone on the counter, but there would be no more scoring chances for the hosts. (IANS)

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