Who would have thought that Bruno Guimarães, who arrived two weeks ago in Lyon, is one of the great architects of OL's victory against Juventus Turin (1-0) in the first knockout round of the Champions League? Torn away for 20 million euros from Athletico Paranaense, despite strong competition from Atlético de Madrid, the 22-year-old was quick to meet expectations.
Completely new to the Champions League, the winter rookie only had his second tenure after moving to Metz (2-0). The performance must have delighted Juninho, the Lyonnais sports director, who worked for the arrival of the captain of the Brazilian Olympic team qualified for the Tokyo Olympics this summer. "We will have to give him time, it's not easy to adapt when you come from another continent," said Juni. Don't forget that I was very criticized during my first season at OL ”. Juni then became the best player in the history of the Rhone club.
A first selection with Brazil?
Against Juve, it broke out in broad daylight. Two supervisors for Team A from Brazil were in the spans of Groupama Stadium. "After this match, I think he will be called for the first time in Seleção," said Juninho. In a sentry role in front of the defense and in front of Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates, the Brazilian showed that he learned quickly, making Lyon's game more fluid and even allowing himself a perfectly executed sombrero shot on Juan Cuadrado.
"He is really very good technically", admits, admiring, Anthony Lopes. Number 39 has 96% assists in the opposing half, the game record. 39, his favorite number which he claimed when he arrived. This is the taxi number of his father, a driver in Brazil. A fan of fishing, the youngster recovered very young from two pneumonias. He had a dream start in Lyon. “We knew that physically he was ready. What we didn't know was how he was going to adapt to French football, ”adds Rudi Garcia. The OL coach has an early response.