LYON – Beating Juventus 1-0 in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday was not enough for Olympique Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia who regretted that his team did not score another goal.
Lyon prevailed courtesy of a Lucas Tousart goal in the first half as Juve looked unusually subdued before the interval, prompting Garcia to say his team may have missed a chance to hurt the visitors more.
Looking ahead to the return leg in Turin on March 17, the former AS Roma coach said: “If we want to qualify we will have to score in the second leg.
“We did not concede a goal at home which is always very important in the knockout stage, but I regret that we did not score another in the first half when we had the capacity.”
Karl Toko-Ekambi hit the woodwork shortly before Tousart found the back of the net after excellent work by Houssem Aouar as Lyon showed poise and discipline.
This cheeky Houssem Aouar nutmeg wins Skill of the Day! 🥜😎
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 26, 2020
“It was a perfect first half,” said Garcia.
It was a different story after the break as Juventus stepped up a gear and enjoyed more possession.
“In the second half, we were more pressed and it was harder to keep the ball. And when we had it we were not dangerous,” Garcia admitted.
Aouar is expecting a tough trip to Italy.
“We played a great game but let's not get carried away. There's another one to be played,” the midfielder said.
“It's going to be very complicated over there, but we will not go looking to preserve our advantage, we will go full of ambition.”
Lyon have not reached the last eight of the Champions League since 2010, the year they achieved their best result in the competition by reaching the semi-finals.