Champions League: Referee Choice Under Scrutiny Before a Ball is Kicked

Manchester City vs Lyon

If this game is anything like Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final last season, boy are we in for a treat!

Then, both City and their opponents Spurs went ‘hammer n tongues’ for 90 plus mesmeric minutes which had virtually everything and was recently voted the most dramatic Champions League quarter-final of all time in an online poll.

We don’t expect quite a repeat in Portugal this weekend but certainly Champions League highlights should be forthcoming.

Talking Points

Before a ball has even been kicked, there’s already been drama over the choice of referee.

The match, which is set to be officiated by Danny Makkelie, will have a profound impact on Ajax next season and the Lique 1 club is being urged to ask for a switch of the man in the middle.

That is because the former police officer, who served as the video assistant referee in the 2018 World Cup Final, is Dutch.

If City win, Ajax will qualify automatically for next season’s Champions League group stage. If Lyon come out on top, however, Ajax will have to go through a qualifying play-off, which could put them at risk of losing a huge sum of money if they then fail to qualify.

Such an alleged conflict may seem to question the integrity of the official so it will be interesting to see whether Lyon do feel the need to request a change.

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UEFA – Champions League

It will also be interesting to see how Houssem Aouar performs.

The 22 year-old has established himself as one of the most consistent performers in Lique 1 over the past three seasons, contributing 24 goals and 25 assists to the French outfit’s cause in 135 appearances across all competitions.

He has been linked with City among other suitors and this encounter provides him with an ideal opportunity to show his worth to a wider audience.

The Premier League club starts as clear favourites.

City comfortably qualified as unbeaten winners of Group C and then served notice of their intent with an eye-catching 4-2 aggregate defeat of Real Madrid in the round of 16.

Lyon, meanwhile, were grateful to an unbeaten home record as they edged the runners-up spot in Group G with just eight points. However, the last 16 was a different story as they survived a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired comeback to oust Juventus on away goals.

On the team news front, City are again without Sergio Aguero but Gabriel Jesus will almost certainly lead the line after impressing and scoring in both legs against Madrid.

The Brazilian has been directly involved in more Champions League goals for City this season than any other player (nine – six goals and three assists).

In defence, Benjamin Mendy is back from suspension, though Guardiola may well opt to stick with Joao Cancelo in that position for this one

For Lyon, this is their first appearance in the quarter-finals of the tournament for a decade and they have progressed from just one of their previous four games at this stage, eliminating Bordeaux in 2009-10.

Maxwel Cornet was the scourge of City two years ago in the group stage and he has adapted well to his new wing-back position.

Lyon will appear in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009-10 — Memphis Depay celebrates scoring a goal against Juventus

Centre-half Marcelo will be key if Lyon are to spring another surprise, while Moussa Dembélé could come in to partner former Manchester United man Memphis Depay in attack.

Guardiola will need no reminding of his side’s struggles against the Ligue 1 opposition when they met twice in last season’s group stage.

However, Lyon looked a little rusty against Juve last time out – no surprise given that it was just their second competitive game in five months – and that may prove crucial.

History

City will be hoping to be third time lucky this weekend.

Their only two previous meetings came in the group stages of last season’s competition and were memorable for the French club.

Lyon pulled off a superb 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, courtesy of goals from Cornet and Nabil Fekir, before Bernardo Silva pulled one back.

They then shared four goals in France two months later when Aymeric Laporte and Aguero were on target for City with Cornet netting both for the hosts,

City seem savvier this term as shown by mature way they despatched Spanish champions Real last week, even if they did receive a helping hand. It was their first triumph in the knockout rounds over one of the continent’s elite clubs.

A sign of things to come?