Barcelona vs Olympique Lyonnais 14/03/19

14 March 2019

Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais go head-to-head at Camp Nou for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie after playing out a goalless draw at the Groupama Stadium.

Two successive wins over arch-rivals Real Madrid and another one over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend see the hosts entering this meeting full of confidence. Just like their rivals, the Catalans are one of five teams that are yet to lose in the Champions League this campaign (W4, D3), with two of their four CL triumph arriving at home. The reigning La Liga holders have not only racked up a 12-game home unbeaten run across all competitions (W9, D3), but they have also scored 2+ match goals nine times in that period. But, Ernesto Valverde’s men have been struggling in defense recently, preserving a clean slate only once in their last six competitive meetings at Camp Nou.

Meanwhile, the visitors, who go into this clash off the back of a frustrating 2-2 draw with Strasbourg, chase their elusive first triumph over Barcelona after seven unsuccessful attempts (D3, L4). Les Gones have gone past the group stage despite the fact they’ve pulled off just one triumph (W1, D5) although their only success arrived away from home as they’ve outplayed Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on the opening matchday. A reckless defense and a prolific attack have led to all six of Lyon’s CL outings prior to the encounter with Barcelona producing goals on both ends, with five of those ending with three or more goals. The fact that his players have failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their previous road games, allowing over 1.5 goals per match in the last two should worry Bruno Génésio ahead of this race.