There are only two French clubs still in the race in European competitions.
After the elimination of Paris Saint-Germain against Real Madrid, Lille ahead of Chelsea, Rennes against Leicester and Monaco against Braga, Lyon and Marseille are the last French representatives on the European scene.
They both play this Thursday, April 7, at 9 p.m.
Lyon bets on Europe
Ninth in Ligue 1 eight points from the podium, Olympique Lyonnais is counting on the Europa League to save its season.
The prospect of a final victory in the competition, synonymous with direct qualification for the Champions League, is in the minds of Lyon.
Especially since the Gones remain undefeated in the competition for the time being (six wins, two draws), and have just eliminated Porto in the eighth.
To hope to go to the end, it will be necessary to beat a solid team of West Ham, sixth this season in the Premier League, like last season.
The Londoners took out Sevilla FC in the round of 16, and have beaten Liverpool and Chelsea in particular this season.
They rely on one of the most solid midfielders in England, consisting of the Czech Tomas Soucek and the young English nugget Declan Rice.
The Lyon group for the trip to London, in the quarter-final first leg of @EuropaLeague!
đŠđŽđ”#WHUOL #UEL pic.twitter.com/ZcygN7ituS
â Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) April 6, 2022
For this first leg, Lyon coach Peter Bosz will have to deal without Maxence Caqueret, hit in the knee.
Karl Toko Ekambi, providential man for OL this season in the Europa League, top scorer in the competition with six goals, has just recovered from Covid-19 and should be able to be aligned.
Rayan Cherki and Sinaly DiomandĂ© will also be unavailable, but new recruit TetĂȘ, scorer against Angers on Sunday April 3, may well be used.
Opposite, the Londoners will play without their Argentinian midfielder Manuel Lanzini, suspended.
The young English side Ben Johnson is uncertain.
Marseille in discovery
For the Marseillais, the situation is a little different.
Second in Ligue 1, 12 points behind PSG but three lengths ahead of Rennes, OM have the championship as their priority.
Nevertheless, they are far from having given up on Europe.
Especially since they haven't won a trophy since the League Cup in 2012. They hope to do better than their 2018 epic, where they went to the Europa League final, before losing to at Atletico Madrid.
Read alsoEuropa League Conference: symbol of its identity, will the slogan "forever the first" push OM?
This time, Olympique de Marseille discovers the brand new Europa League Conference, created this year.
After eliminating the Azerbaijanis from Qarabag then the Swiss from FC Basel, OM face the Greeks from PAOK Salonika.
Opponents, second in their championship, who seem within their reach, even after having twice beaten the Belgians of La Gantoise in the eighth.
For this, they will be deprived of their star striker, Arkadiusz Milik, author of 20 goals in 31 games this season.
The Pole injured his hamstrings with his selection during the international break.
Suspended defender Luan Peres will also be absent.
On the Greek side, the strong men will be there, in particular the Slovenian midfielder Jasmin Kurtic, author of 18 goals this season, and the English striker Chuba Akpom.
