OL facing Sparta Prague with ghosts of past european summers looming
After slipping to a 1-2 defeat at Sparta Prague in the Champions League third qualifying round first leg last week, Olympique Lyonnais must turn the tables on Tuesday (9 PM) to avoid joining their own list of summer eliminations.
A victory would not only secure progression to the play-offs but would also silence the echoes of three painful summer exits that have haunted the club’s European campaigns. We revisit these three setbacks that continue to fuel debates among fans.
August 1999 in the Champions League: the Maribor shock
Fresh off signing Brazilian striker Sonny Anderson from FC Barcelona for 125 million Francs (€18 million) — a record at the time — a third-place Ligue 1 finish meant Lyon entered the Champions League for the first time in their history with high ambitions. But the modest Slovenian side NK Maribor shattered those dreams. Under manager Bernard Lacombe, Lyon were stunned at home (0-1) in the first leg on August 10, 1999, conceding a late goal by Filipovic (89th minute) despite dominating play. The collapse was complete in the return fixture in Slovenia on August 25, where a 0-2 defeat sealed their elimination, with goals from Simundza (24th) and Balajic (45th) exposing Lyon’s helplessness. The next day’s headlines in the French press read: « Lyon, the summer flop ».
Relegated to the UEFA Cup, Lyon was eliminated in the round of 16 by Werder Bremen (GER, 3-0, 0-4) after beating HJK Helsinki (FIN, 5-1, 1-0) and Celtic Glasgow (SCO, 1-0, 1-0). In Ligue 1, Lyon finished third again in May 2000, also exiting both domestic cup competitions in the quarter-finals.
August 2013 in the Champions League: Griezmann’s revenge
Fourteen years later, Lyon had grown into a powerhouse, claiming seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles (2002-2008) and reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, only to be knocked out by Bayern Munich (0-1, 0-3). Yet in August 2013, the club — which had finished third in Ligue 1 that May — faced yet another summer stumble in Europe. After dispatching Grasshopper Zurich (SUI) in the third qualifying round (1-0, 1-0), Lyon was paired with Real Sociedad, the club that had previously dismissed Antoine Griezmann as too frail for their youth academy.
Griezmann made them pay dearly. In the first leg at home on August 20, « Grizou » opened the scoring (17th minute) with a spectacular left-footed volley that made headlines the following day. Real Sociedad won 2-0 after Seferovic added another goal (49th minute). The return leg in San Sebastián on August 28 saw Lyon suffer another 0-2 defeat, this time to a Carlos Vela brace (67th and 90+1st minutes). Lyon, managed by Rémi Garde and featuring players like Samuel Umtiti, Yoann Gourcuff, Alexandre Lacazette, and Nabil Fekir, was eliminated once more.
Relegated to the Europa League, Lyon reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to Juventus Turin (0-1, 1-2). The club finished fifth in Ligue 1 that season, was ousted in the Coupe de France round of 16, and lost the Coupe de la Ligue final to Paris Saint-Germain (1-2).
August 2014 in the Europa League: the Astra Giurgiu humiliation
« We got hammered by a bunch of unknowns! » Bernard Lacombe, then vice-president and special advisor to president Jean-Michel Aulas, famously quipped about Lyon’s humiliating European exit that summer. Despite a 1-0 victory in the second leg away to Astra Giurgiu on August 28 — thanks to a Jordan Ferri goal (23rd minute) — the damage was done. In the first leg at home on August 21, Lyon had suffered a 1-2 defeat to goals from Fatai (71st minute) and Budescu (81st minute, penalty), despite Steed Malbranque’s early strike (25th minute). The Romanian side’s dominance was unmistakable.
That squad — featuring Corentin Tolisso, Christophe Jallet, and Maxime Gonalons — recovered to finish second in Ligue 1 the following May, securing Lyon’s return to the Champions League. But the summer of 2014 remained a low point, ending an 18-year streak of uninterrupted European football for the club.
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