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Lyon
Champions League | Semi-Finals
Aug 19, 2020 at 8pm UK
Estádio José Alvalade
Bayern logo

Lyon
0 - 3
Bayern


Marcelo (35'), Marcal (42'), Mendes (86')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Gnabry (18', 33'), Lewandowski (88')

Preview: Lyon vs. Bayern Munich - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Champions League semi-final between Lyon and Bayern Munich, including team news and predicted lineups.

Bayern Munich and Lyon face off at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Wednesday evening with a place in the Champions League final up for grabs.

German champions Bayern thrashed Barcelona 8-2 to book a place in the semi-finals, while Lyon - seventh-placed finishers in Ligue 1 - stunned Manchester City with a 3-1 win.

The winners of this tie will face Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's final.


Match preview

Bayern Munich players celebrate Thomas Muller's goal against Barcelona on August 14, 2020© Reuters

Even before crushing Barcelona, Bayern were already the favourites of many to go all the way in this year's competition and lift the European Cup for a sixth time.

After becoming the first side to score eight goals in a Champions League knockout match, it is now tough to see exactly which team will stop them from winning a famous treble.

Nineteen teams have tried and failed to stop the Bavarian giants from winning in a run stretching back to February 16.

In fact, going further back, Hansi Flick's men have now won 24 of their last 25 matches in all competitions, the exception being a stalemate with fellow semi-finalists RB Leipzig.

The manner of their crushing win over European heavyweights Barca really was one of those 'where were you?' moments, with six different players getting on the scoresheet.

Even more impressive than that, all eight goals were assisted by a different player, showing just how much attacking depth Bayern have in their ranks.

Lyon's Moussa Dembele celebrates scoring against Manchester City in the Champions League on August 15, 2020© Reuters

As witnessed in the last round against a much-fancied Man City side, though, Lyon cannot be written off in this intriguing final-four showdown in Lisbon.

Moussa Dembele was twice on target for Rudi Garcia's outsiders, adding to Maxwel Cornet's opener after Kevin De Bruyne had levelled things up.

Incredibly, Lyon have not won consecutive Champions League matches in a single campaign since the 2011-12 season when defeating Dinamo Zagreb and APOEL.

Les Gones also knocked out Italian champions Juventus in the last 16, however, and will enter this match full of confidence.

In what could be a good omen for Lyon - and they will no doubt take whatever they can - Bayern have failed to progress from each of their last four semi-finals.

Bayern came out on top when the sides met at this stage in the 2009-10 semis, albeit with that tie being played over two legs, unlike this one-off clash on neutral soil.

In a unique campaign that has provided many surprises, Lyon will be hoping for one more massive twist as they look to overcome the continent's most in-form side.

Lyon Champions League form: WLDWLW
Lyon's form (all competitions): WLLLLW

Bayern Munich's Champions League form: WWWWWW
Bayern Munich's form (all competitions): WWWWWW


Team News

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring against Chelsea in the Champions League on August 8, 2020© Reuters

Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard returned to light training on Monday and is back in contention for this semi-final.

However, the versatile Joshua Kimmich has performed well at right-back and Alphonso Davies is arguably the best left-back on the planet right now, so changes are unlikely in that department.

That may also be the case further forward, though Kingsley Coman is pushing for a recall in place of Ivan Perisic, who was one of those on target in the Barca rout.

Robert Lewandowski has scored in eight consecutive Champions League appearances for Bayern – only Ruud Van Nistelrooy in 2003 (9) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018 (11) have scored in more successive matches in the competition's history.

As for Lyon, Dembele will be pushing for inclusion up top after his double from the bench against City, which could mean Karl Toko Ekambi dropping out.

However, Garcia has found a system that works well, with Ekambi and Memphis Depay giving the French side a platform to hit sides on the counter.

Changes are also unlikely to be made anywhere else in the side, meaning that Maxence Caqueret, Bruno Guimaraes and Houssem Aouar will link up in midfield.

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Marcelo, Denayer, Marcal; Dubois, Caqueret, Guimaraes, Aouar, Cornet; Ekambi, Memphis

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Goretzka, Thiago; Gnabry, Muller, Coman; Lewandowski


SM words green background

We say: Lyon 1-3 Bayern Munich

No team in Champions League history have won their first nine games in a campaign, something that Bayern can achieve with another victory on Wednesday. Lyon may have knocked out Juventus and Man City, but Flick's rampant side have been nothing short of phenomenal either side of the coronavirus-enforced hiatus and are big favourites to prevail here.



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 60.17%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Lyon had a probability of 15.16%.

The most likely scoreline for a Bayern Munich win was 0-1 with a probability of 16.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (13.35%) and 1-2 (8.83%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11%), while for a Lyon win it was 1-0 (6.86%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 7.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bayern Munich would win this match.


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Bayern Munich players celebrate Thomas Muller's goal against Barcelona on August 14, 2020
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League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Bayern11003
2B. Leverkusen11003
3Celtic11003
4Aston Villa11003
5Dortmund11003
6Sparta Prague11003
7Juventus11003
8Liverpool11003
9Real Madrid11003
10Sporting Lisbon11003
11Atletico11003
12Benfica11003
13Brest11003
14Monaco11003
15PSG11003
16Arsenal10101
17Atalanta10101
18Bologna10101
19Inter Milan10101
20Man City10101
21Shakhtar10101
22Barcelona10010
23Girona10010
24RB Leipzig10010
25Red Star10010
26Sturm Graz10010
27AC Milan10010
28Lille10010
29PSV10010
30Stuttgart10010
31Brugge10010
32Salzburg10010
33Young Boys10010
34Feyenoord10010
35Slovan Bratislava10010
36Dinamo Zagreb10010


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