The Gers kicked off their campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory in Sweden over Malmo last midweek, providing the perfect platform to open the revamped league format.
Here’s everything you need to know about our French opponents this evening:
HISTORY
Lyon remain one of the most decorated sides in French football history, lifting the Ligue 1 title on seven separate occasions.
Indeed, all seven of those league crowns arrived consecutively during a glorious period in the 2000s, where they also lifted two domestic cups and reached the last four of the Champions League in 2010.
The club were also semi-finalists in Europe’s premier competition as recently as 2020, defeating Manchester City in the last eight before falling to eventual winners Bayern Munich.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Yesterday marked 17 years since Rangers famously triumphed at the home of Lyon in a memorable 3-0 Champions League victory, earned through goals from Lee McCulloch, Daniel Cousin and DaMarcus Beasley.
The French side exacted revenge in the return fixture – remembered for the contribution of a young Karim Benzema – while the two sides also squared off in the Europa League group stages in 2021.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers lost out 2-0 at Ibrox before earning a creditable 1-1 draw in France three months later.
CURRENT FORM
Lyon have won just two of their opening six matches in Ligue 1, returning to winning ways with a 2-1 away triumph over Toulouse on Sunday.
As a result, they lie 11th in the table, although they got off to a positive start in their Europa League campaign last time out.
A pair of second half strikes fired the Ligue 1 side to a 2-0 triumph over Olympiacos, who await Philippe Clement’s side later in this competition.
MANAGER
The French outfit are managed by Pierre Sage, who was initially appointed on an interim basis back last November.
The 45-year-old replaced Fabio Grosso in the dugout and, from a perilous position, guided the club to Europa League qualification.
Sage’s coaching career first started in the lower leagues with Chambéry SF, before spending time in Lyon’s youth system and as assistant manager at Red Star in France.
KEY PLAYER
Attacker Rayan Cherki has been a standout for Lyon over a number of seasonsand has been a household name in France despite his relative youth at 21-years-old.
He was on the scoresheet in Lyon’s triumph over Olympiacos last month and only recently returned from injury in a 3-2 defeat to Marseille.
The Ligue 1 outfit certainly don’t lack in star power, counting former Premier League players such as Wilfried Zaha, Alexandre Lacazette, Nemanja Matic and Ainsley Maitland-Niles among their ranks.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
Manager, Philippe Clement, said of the French side: “The fans love to see quality. They are demanding in that way, and they love to see quality on the other side as long as we win.
“Those are always exciting nights as a fan. Lyon have a lot of experience and players with really big careers such as [Alexandre] Lacazette for Arsenal, [Nemanja] Matic at Man Utd and [Corentin] Tolisso at Bayern Munich.
“They have a lot of exciting young talents such as [Rayan] Cherki who is one of the stars of French football.
“It's always exciting to see what we can show against them with our qualities.”