Can Lyon Maintain Form to Beat Barcelona?
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The second set of Champions League Round of 16 games begins on Tuesday night and we have an intriguing match between Lyon and Barcelona to enjoy.
The game will take place at the Groupama Stadium and Lyon will be hoping to take advantage of being at home in the first leg. However, Barcelona are one of the favourites to win the 2018/19 Champions league and will be confident of getting the job done.
Lyon come into this game having defeated Guingamp 2-1 at home in Ligue 1 on Friday night. It was a good response to the 1-0 defeat at Nice the week before and means Lyon have won six of their last seven games.
While being difficult to beat at home, Lyon have not found winning games easy at the Groupama Stadium this season. They have lost just two of their last fourteen home matches in all competitions but have won just six of those games. Scoring goals has not been a problem recently but Lyon have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven.
Trends show Lyon are undefeated in the Champions league this season but as with the home games above, they have struggled to pick up wins. They have drawn five of their six matches and all three of their home group games. Interestingly, each of those three home matches have all ended 2-2.
Barcelona picked up a narrow 1-0 home win over Real Valladolid in La Liga on the weekend thanks to a Lionel Messi goal. It means Barcelona are undefeated in their last six games in all competitions and have lost one of their last ten, which was in La Liga.
However, away form has not been brilliant recently and Barcelona have won one of their last four away games in all competitions. The win came at Girona in La Liga but Barcelona have lost to Levante and Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey and were held at Athletic Club in La Liga.
Trends show Barcelona have lost just one of their last fifteen matches in the Champions league and remain undefeated this season. They won two of their three away group games, defeating Tottenham Hotspur and PSV 4-2 and 2-1 respectively in what was quite a tough group.
Team news and Lyon will be without the suspended Nabil Fekir and that will severely reduce their attacking threat. Rafael and Amine Gouri are injured and there are doubts over Jason Denayer and Tanguy NDombele.
Barcelona are without the injured trio of Arthur, Rafinha and Jasper Cillessen. Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele have recovered well from recent injury problems and should both start the game.
Lyon have defeated PSG and held Manchester City twice this season but the loss of Nabil Fekir is a big blow. Barcelona have not been at their best lately but Lyon have struggled to keep sheets and the Catalan giants are favourites to pick up the win.
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