Radio Romania International Sports club
The FCSB – Olympique Lyonnais match preview
Radio România Internațional, 05.03.2025, 13:45
Romanian football team FCSB is that close to succeeding a performance which is an absolute first for Romanian football: the qualification to the quarterfinals of a European competition in a new format. Since the Champions League, Europa League then Conference League have replaced the former European Cups, the longest trail of a Romanian football team ended at the round of 16.
It happened in 2013, when Steaua Bucharest, in Europa League’s round of 16, was defeated by Chelsea, the trophy holders at that time. We recall Steaua won in the first leg, 1-nil, in Bucharest, then sustained a 1-3 defeat on Stamford Bridge. Since 2017, Steaua has become FCSB.
On Thursday, holders FCSB play the first leg against French team Olympique Lyonnais. FCSB have recently gone past the competitions’ playoffs, defeating Greek opponents PAOK Thessalonica, 2-1, away and 2-nil, at home.
Olympique Lyonnais have advanced straight to the round of 16, having been 6th-placed in the main group phase. The French team’s record is made of four wins, three draws and only one defeat. Their record is not spectacularly better than FCSB’s record, made of four wins, two draws and two defeats. What made the difference was Olympique Lyonnais’ 4-1 win against Glasgow Rangers on Ibrox park on October 3rd. We recall on October 25th Glasgow rangers trounced FCSB, 4-nil.
At present, one round ahead of the end of the regular season, holders FCSB are at the top of the table according to the Superleague’s ranking, having one point more than Universitatea Craiova, the team FCSB will confront this coming Sunday. In this past weekend’s round, the match pitting FCSB against Rapid Bucharest ended in a blank draw; FCSB were one man shy on the pitch for almost 60 minutes.
In the French first League, after 24 rounds, Olympique Lyonnais are 6th-placed, On Sunday, Portuguese head-coach Palo Fonseca’s trainees grabbed a 2-1 home win against Brest, the team that in 2025 represented France in the Champions League.
In the French championship’s last five fixtures, Olympique sustained only two defeats, by top of the table team Paris Saint-Germain and the runner-up team Olympique Marseille.
