Olympique Lyonnais – AS Monaco: Les Monégasques Are Breathing Down The Neck of Champions League Qualification (1-2)

It couldn’t have been a worse time for Olympique Lyonnais to host AS Monaco. As Lyon stutter and begin to fade, Monaco have hit a new gear. The race for third place (automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League) and fourth ( a place in the third-round playoff) is growing fierce, with a bottleneck forming as Marseille, Lyon, Lille, and Monaco compete for two spots. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

For a brief moment in January, Olympique Lyonnais allowed themselves to dream as they went on a 13-game winning streak. Since RC Strasbourg Alsace ended that run on the 22nd of February, Lyon have not won a single game, crashing out of the Coupe de France, the UEFA Europa League, and losing ground in the race for Champions League qualification, with their grip on fourth place loosening. 

AS Monaco, on the other hand, have picked up momentum in recent weeks. Elimination from the Champions League at the hands of rivals Paris Saint-Germain was far from ideal, but with Ligue 1 now the only focus, Monaco have gone on a five-game winning run in the league - a situation that, if they were to continue, would leave them only a point behind Lyon. 

Paulo Fonseca went with a 4-2-3-1 formation for his Lyon side. In goal, Dominik Greif, with a back four of Nicolás Tagliafico, Moussa Niakhaté, Clinton Mata, and Hans Hateboer. Orel Mangala and Corentin Toliss as the double pivot. On the wings, Afonso Moreira and Endrick, with Khalis Merah as the no. 10. Up front, Pavel Šulc returned from injury. 

Sébastien Pocognoli kept his successful 3-4 . . .