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The final Champions League quarterfinal game in Lisbon comes on Saturday as tournament co-favorites Manchester City take on French side Olympique Lyonnais. This matchup is the biggest one-sided fixture in the quarterfinal round with City at -384 to advance and Lyon at +875. Neither team has had much Champions League success but City are no stranger to lifting trophies with two Premier League titles and four cup titles in the last three seasons.
The only times these teams met in European competitions came last year in the Champions League group play. Lyon scored an upset on September 19 with a 2-1 win as Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir scored in the first half. They played to a 2-2 tie in France on November 27 as Cornet scored twice for the hosts while Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Aguero scored in the second half for City.
Manchester City Outlook: Messi Magic
Manchester City transitioned back into Champions League play with a 2-1 win over Real Madrid last Friday, the same score they beat the Spanish Champions by in March. Raheem Sterling took advantage of a Real Madrid defensive mistake in the ninth minute before Gabriel Jesus put the match away in the 68th minute. Ederson made three saves to help City advance.
In their eight Champions League games this year City have tallied 20 goals with Jesus and Sterling leading the way at six each. Sterling has a team-best 31 goals overall while the injured Sergio Aguero scored 20. Kevin De Bruyne has 23 assists for a team with 144 goals in all competitions this year.
City joined Bayern Munich as co-favorites to win the Champions League at +300 though they have never lifted the Champions League trophy. City lost in the quarterfinal each of the last two seasons and a win on Saturday would put them in the semifinals for just the second time ever. They fell in the semis to eventual winners Real Madrid in 2015-16.
Olympique Lyonnais Outlook:
Lyon didn’t win on Friday against Juventus but they did just enough in the second leg to advance on 2-2 aggregate. Memphis Depay scored from the spot in the 12th minute to give Lyon a crucial away goal and a 2-0 lead on aggregate. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a 17-minute span but Juventus couldn’t tally in the final 30 minutes of the match and Lyon advanced on away goals.
Lyon had a rough domestic season with just 40 points as they finished in seventh place in Ligue 1. Les Gones scored 42 goals in league play but allowed just 27. Manager Rudi Garcia took over in October after first-year coach Sylvinho was sacked after just 11 games in charge.
Moussa Dembele leads the team with 16 goals on the season while Depay has six of the team’s 11 Champions League goals. The last time Lyon made it to the Champions League quarter finals was in 2010 when they beat another French team, Bordeaux, 3-2 on aggregate. That was their only semifinal appearance as they were shut out in both games and eliminated by Bayern Munich.
Manchester City v. Olympique Lyonnais Betting Lines
Manchester City -384 to win
Olympique Lyonnais +875 to win
Draw +451
Over/Under 3 goals (O -114, U -114)
Manchester City are big favorites in this one and it is no surprise as they have scored 100 more goals than Lyon this season. A Champions League title is all that’s missing from City’s trophy case and anything short of a finals appearance will be a disappointing result for Pep Guardiola’s side. Lyon will hope to follow the same blueprint they used in Juventus, score a goal early and sit back to take City’s best shot the rest of the way.
Head to our favorite pay per head bookie site at PayPerHead247.com and bet Over 3 goals (-114)
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