Thursday 98th March 2016 Kickoff: 2005hrs Lyon v Roma Football – Europe – Europa League After all the drama and excitement of this week’s Champions League, the Europa League has even more to live up to than normal. One of the most attractive ties sees Ligue 1 take on Serie A with Lyon drawn against Roma in the round of 16. Both teams were very comfortable in securing their passage to this stage but can expect a much tougher time of it when taking each other in France on Thursday. It should also be plenty entertaining for the neutral with two sides who find the net for fun.
Whilst Monaco and Nice have surprised many by battling it out with PSG for the title in France, Lyon have had a much more understated domestic campaign and have virtually no chance of finishing in the top three and securing Champions League qualification via the league. They are only in this competition having failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League but there’s no doubt that Lyon will be targeting this for not only entry into next season’s Champions League, but the prestige of winning a major European trophy – something they have never achieved before in their history. Their participation in this year’s Europa League could not have got off to a better start as they humiliated Dutch outfit AZ 12-2 on aggregate. It’s a hugely encouraging start but the draw for this round could barely have been tougher and Lyon will have to be at their best if they are to make it through to the last eight.
Roma suffered a huge blow to their title hopes in Italy at the weekend going down 2-1 at home to fellow challengers Napoli. It was made all the more frustrating when leaders Juventus dropped points the next day yet still managed to gain a point over the team from the capital. It capped off a pretty dire week for Roma who also went down 2-0 in the derby against Lazio in the first leg of the Coppa Italia. They have to get those defeats out their system, however, and focus getting their season back on track with a positive result in this one tomorrow. It’s another difficult tie having got the better of Villareal in the previous round – an encounter that was virtually settled in the first leg as an Edin Dzeko hat- trick set them on their way for a 4-0 win in Spain. That performance and result made everybody sit up and take notice of this team who are second favourites behind Manchester United to win the competition. Unlike Lyon they are not dependant on winning the Europa League to make it into the Champions League, but they have also never won a European trophy and with their hopes in both domestic competitions hanging by a thread, this may represent their best chance of ending the season with a trophy.
Lyon v Roma Betting Tip
Lyon may not have the starts of a decade or so ago but they possess a young team full of quality and packed with attacking threat spearheaded by the prolific Alexandre Lacazette. The French internationalist has scored 22 times in the league but has not hit the same heights in Europe as yet. He’s on three for the season between the two competitions with two of them coming in the first leg win over AZ – he has to have a big game for Lyon to be successful in this. Roma’s own central striker is having a season for the books, too, as Dzeko who has 19 league goals and also excelled in the Europa League with eight goals. He is not everybody’s cup of tea but he’s certainly pivotal to how his team plays.
I’m really looking forward to this game as it features two teams who I believe can go all the way in this. Roma are obviously the most fancied of the two but Lyon are capable of a surprise and should they get by this then they most definitely should be feared. In terms of this tie I expect it will come down to small margins and can see both teams winning their home game, so it may come down to away goals. Lyon have recovered their home form after a poor first half of the season and come into this with seven wins from scoring 31 goals in the process. That potent attack is enough to give them a lead going into the second leg next week.
Lyon 31/20 @ Marathon Bet
