(CNN)Lyon beat Manchester City 3-1 on Saturday to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals.
The French got off to a perfect start, dampening Manchester City’s attacking play and eventually taking the lead on 24 minutes thanks to Maxwel Cornet’s inventive finish from just outside the box.
In the second half, England increased the pressure and the pressure finally showed when Kevin de Bruyne coolly shoved home to equalize before substitute Moussa Dembélé scored twice to propel Lyon through.
Lyon meets Bayern Munich in the semifinals on Wednesday after the German side reached the semifinals on Friday, beating Barcelona 8-2.
For the First For the first time since 1990/91 and for the first time in the Champions League era, there will be no team from England, Spain or Italy in the semi-finals. For the first time in the history of the Champions League, two teams from France will compete.
Belgium midfielder de Bruyne said it wasn’t “good enough” after another heartbreaking exit from the competition.
“It’s definitely the same. I think the first half wasn’t good enough,” he told BT Sport after the game. “I think we know that.
“We started slow, we didn’t have many options. I think we played really well in the second half. We came back 1-1, had a couple of chances and then of course the 2-1, and then the 3 ended : 1 the game It’s a shame for us to go this way.
“The game was open but they didn’t really create anything other than two chances to score. Yes, we have to learn. It’s not good enough.”
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Soak up the pressure
With their star players and a well-known coach, Manchester City were overwhelmingly favored to beat Lyon.
But the French had shown their resilience in the second leg against Juventus in the preliminary round and managed to get past Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. despite almost five months without football.
And its robustness was put to the test from kickoff. Manchester City dominated possession from the first whistle but failed to create golden opportunities.
Finally, Lyon’s ability to counterattack provided the game’s first goal. A ball played from behind City’s defense and run by Karl Toko Ekambi finally fell to Maxwel Cornet and when City keeper Ederson left his goal, Cornet threaded a great flick into the near post from around 20 yards.
The rest of the first half went exactly as Lyon and coach Rudi Garcia had planned. Manchester City dominated possession without creating too many clear chances while Pep Guardiola’s side looked vulnerable at the break.
The game opened up after half-time and after an attacking substitution from Guardiola, City began to create chances at will.
And finally the pressure said as good footwork from England international Raheem Sterling freed him to put it back for de Bruyne to end it.
It looked like there would only be one winner. Lyon’s own super-sub Dembélé, however, thought differently as he caught a through ball almost halfway and finished under Ederson. A nervous video referee check followed, but after a few minutes of waiting, the goal fell.
Despite being behind, City created the better chances and the best of them fell to Sterling. Some clever dribbles and a cross from Gabriel Jesus left Sterling with an open goal from just five yards out, but he sent the ball up and over the goal.
And the mistake proved costly. Just 59 seconds later, Lyon had scored again, Dembélé pouncing on a feeble save from Ederson to send the French club into the last four for the first time in almost 10 years.
The result means Manchester City did not advance through the Champions League quarter-finals during Guardiola’s time at the club.
Although Guardiola felt his side played well for most of the game, he bemoaned Manchester City’s inability to shoot clean in the Champions League.
“One day we will break that quarter-final gap,” he told BT Sport after the game. “Except for the first 25 minutes where we struggled to find spaces to attack more fluidly, players play freely.”
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“And the last 15 minutes of the first half were good. The second half was ok, we were there. I felt like we were better, but you have to be perfect in a game in this competition and we weren’t.”
The 2019/20 Champions League semifinals see two French teams and two German teams compete for a place in the finals; the first time since 2012-13 that only two different nations are represented at that point.
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