Chapter 65: Undefeated Nemesis
In the round of 32 of the Europa League, Guingamp lost 3:4 to Dynamo Kiev of the Ukrainian Super League over two legs, so Lyon is the only French seed in the Europa League this season.
The teams playing in the four major leagues, Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, Liverpool, Borussia Mönchen in the Bundesliga, and Athletic Bilbao in La Liga have been eliminated one after another.
Tottenham's exit means Kane's Europa League goals tally won't increase any longer, with Zhang's rivals automatically losing one.
In the subsequent draw for the round of 16 of the Europa League, Lyon were drawn against Turkish side Besiktas.
The result of this draw is not bad, but it is not good either.
Turkish fans are notoriously fanatical, so the visitors have been more or less affected in the past.
And in the round of 32 of the Europa League, Besiktas eliminated the Premier League giants Liverpool to advance.
Liverpool, runners-up in the Premier League last season, have had a very poor run in the Champions League this season.
The group stage signing would have been very good, and the standard hand in hand qualifying for the game, together with Real Madrid.
However, they faced the Swiss team Basel and were squeezed out of the place at home and away, so they fell to participate in the Europa League knockout round.
Facing Besiktas in the round of 32 of the Europa League, Liverpool won 1:0 at home in the first leg, lost 0:1 away in the second leg, and finally lost to the opponent on penalties.
Brendan Rodgers, the Premier League's new manager, who was blown away last season, has been in turmoil and seems to be on the verge of leaving Anfield at any moment.
Lyon drew Besiktas, an opponent who was not strong but not weak either.
This gave Fournier a bit of a headache.
If he draws Sevilla, Inter Milan, Napoli, Wolfsburg and other favorite teams, he can also decisively announce his abandonment and put the team's energy into the league.
But it is very embarrassing to draw an opponent like Besiktas, who is neither strong nor weak, and it is a pity to abandon it as a bit tasteless.
The Europa League knockout rounds have an extra round of fixtures, so the fixtures are more tightly scheduled.
In the Champions League, the round of 16 knockout rounds are scheduled to be played in two separate weeks.
The two teams that played in Ligue 1, Grand Paris played in midweek and ended up drawing 1-1 at home to Chelsea.
The French media all thought that this result was not ideal, because last season Grand Paris led 3-1 at home, and the second leg was still overturned.
But fortunately, they didn't lose at home, and it wasn't without chance that Paris would go away.
Monaco played in midweek in the second week with a big upset.
Facing Arsenal of the Premier League away, Monaco actually defeated the opponent 3:1 and basically locked up the promotion.
Since Real Madrid threw off the Champions League hat, Arsenal immediately picked it up and put it on, and they have been wearing it for many years, and they are unwilling to throw it away.
This season's Champions League round of 16 draw Monaco in Ligue 1, everyone thought it was a good opportunity for the Gunners to throw off the hat of the 16 Lang, but they didn't expect them to play like this.
The Champions League is highly watched around the world, and China is no exception.
Monaco were beaten twice by Lyon in Ligue 1, and Zhang Chaoqiang was voted the best of the match in both legs.
And in the Champions League, they were able to ravage Arsenal.
So Chinese fans have said that the Premier League giants are nothing more than that, let Brother Qiangzi play, maybe the score will be bigger.
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On March 1, in the 27th round of Ligue 1, Lyon challenged Lille away.
[You unleash a day steal on Divock Origi, speed +1]
Before the start of the game, Zhang Chaoqiang finally stole a speed attribute by stealing the sky and changing the day.
Origi's speed is 84 points, which is a little higher than Zhang Chaoqiang, just enough to steal.
But his burst was only 70 points, which was a bit low.
The most important thing is that he doesn't have the explosive talent bonus like [Mr. Key], so not many people think he is fast.
If you compare it with Anthony Martial, who has a speed burst above 80, although Martial's absolute speed is slightly lower than Origi's, he starts significantly faster, and everyone generally believes that Martial is faster than Origi.
In the previous two games, Zhang Chaoqiang rose two more points to burst and be strong, and now his latest attributes are as follows:
[Name: Zhang Chaoqiang]
[Nationality: Chinese]
[Age: 19 years old]
[HEIGHT: 178CM]
[Position: Striker]
[Stamina: 72]
[Strong: 72]
[Speed: 84]
[Outbreak: 76]
[Flexible: 71]
[reaction: 71]
[Bounce: 71]
[Injury Resistance: 75]
[Talent: Iron Man, Walking Like Flying, Mr. Key, Memory Inheritance, Foolproof, Stealing the Day]
[Comprehensive Judgment of Technique and Consciousness: Ordinary Spherical Star]
"Alexandre Lacazette is back in this game, but Lille has drawn one and lost one in the last two rounds of Ligue 1, so Lyon's overall form is better, and they have a good chance of winning the game and continuing their unbeaten record in team history......
Before the game, the French commentators were very optimistic about Lyon, but more than halfway through the game, they changed their mouths one after another.
In the 26th minute of the first half, Lacazette was cut off with the ball, and Lille scored through a quick counterattack by Origi.
In the 53rd minute of the second half, Portuguese striker Ronny Lopes broke through the door guarded by his national team teammates with a long-range shot.
With less than 60 minutes to play, Lyon was already 2-0 down away.
"Lille is the undisputed nemesis of Lyon, having had two of the longest unbeaten runs in Lyon's history, both of which were ended by Lille."
"In the 03/04 season, Löguin led Lyon to a 21-match unbeaten run, which was ended by Lille in the 22nd.
"In the 05/06 season, Houllier led Lyon to an 18-match unbeaten run, which was ended by Lille in 19."
"Now that Fournier has led Lyon to a 22-match unbeaten run, it is likely that they will fall in front of Lille again......"
In the incessant chatter of the French commentary, Lyon launched a series of offensives.
But Lille himself is good at defending, Lacazette, who has just returned, is in poor form, and Lyon has been scoreless.
It wasn't until stoppage time that the form-triggered Zhang Chaoqiang's long-range shot forced Lille goalkeeper Enyeama to save the ball and Jordan Ferry scored from the back of the net that Lyon finally pulled a goal back.
But the score of 2:1 remained until the end.
"No one expected that Lyon's top scorer Alexandre Lacazette had just returned, and the team's unbeaten record was immediately ended, which was undoubtedly a huge blow for Lyon."
"The good news is that they can continue to hold on to the top spot and don't have to worry about being overtaken for the time being......
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"It's not a good thing that our unbeaten run has been ended, so we can relax and not worry about the record......
On the way back after the game, Fournier tried to calm the players' emotions and hope that everyone would not be affected too much by the end of the record.
However, most people are watching the result of another game.
It wasn't until the Lyon bus returned to downtown Lyon that the atmosphere inside the bus suddenly soared.
"It's over there."
"Good Monaco!"
"Paris didn't win ......"
In another Ligue 1 match three hours later, Grand Paris drew 0-0 away at Monaco and failed to win the game.
Originally, after the loss, the Lyon players were mentally prepared to be chased for three points, but they didn't expect to be chased for only one point.
This gives everyone the illusion that they have won by two points.
At present, there are 11 rounds left in Ligue 1, and Lyon is six points ahead of Grand Paris, and the lead is still not small.
But it's not stable.
After all, the opponent is the super tyrant Grand Paris.