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Arsenal vs Lyon facts

Previous meetings, form guides and key facts ahead of the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final first leg.

Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the quarter-finals
Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the quarter-finals Getty Images

The 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals begin with a first-leg meeting between former champions Arsenal and Lyon in London.

Arsenal secured their place in the last four with a comeback win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, while eight-time winners Lyon eased past Bayern München.

Previous meetings

2022/23 group stage
Lyon 1-5 Arsenal
Arsenal 0-1 Lyon
Injury-hit Lyon suffered their biggest ever European defeat on Matchday 1, Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead both scoring twice in a 5-1 win for Arsenal in France, Melvine Malard's first-half goal the hosts' only response in their only defeat by an English team.

A Frida Maanum own goal in first-half added time gave Lyon an away win of their own on Matchday 5, both sides ultimately progressing from Group C.

2010/11 semi-finals
Lyon 2-0 Arsenal

Arsenal 2-3 Lyon
Lotta Schelin got both goals in France as Lyon, en route to their maiden European title, secured a first-leg lead in the pair's semi-final tie.

Eugénie Le Sommer repeated the feat a week later at Meadow Park, Lara Dickenmann extending Lyon's advantage just before the break. Julie Fleeting and Ellen White reduced the deficit in the second half, but OL had already done enough.

2008/09 second qualifying round
Lyon 3-0 Arsenal
Schelin also struck twice, either side of a Camille Abily effort, as Lyon finished top of Group B3 ahead of Arsenal. Both sides progressed to the quarter-finals.

2007/08 quarter-finals
Lyon 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-3 Lyon
Lyon's debut European campaign brought them up against the Gunners in the last eight. After a goalless draw in France, Lyon progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of 3-2 win over the holders in England; Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey had put the hosts in front after Katia had given Lyon the lead, but strikes from Abily and Élodie Thomis turned the tie in favour of the French outfit.

Form guide

Arsenal

Record vs French clubs W1 D3 L7 F15 A21
Home record vs French clubs W0 D1 L3

Arsenal's most recent contest against French opposition was a 3-3 draw with Paris FC in the round 1 final last season in Linköping. Paris FC ultimately progressed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

The Gunners have won just one of their 11 contests against French teams (D3 L7), losing six of their last eight.

Their first-ever fixture against a team from France ended in a 1-1 draw at Meadow Park against Toulouse in the first leg of the 2001/02 quarter-finals, a tie they would go on to lose 2-3 on aggregate, but they have lost their three subsequent games against French opponents in England, all against Lyon.

Alessia Russo leads the scoring charts for Arsenal in this season's competition with six goals.

In a joint-record 16th quarter-final appearance – a record shared with Lyon – Arsenal progressed to an eighth semi-final with that against over Real Madrid. After losing the first leg 0-2 in Spain, Renee Slegers' side turned the tie around in the London return, second-half goals from Russo (46 59) and Mariona Caldentey (49) completing a memorable comeback.

Arsenal's last semi-final came in 2022/23, when they lost 4-5 on aggregate to Wolfsburg (2-2 a, 2-3 h aet). They have won only one of their previous seven European last-four ties – 5-2 against Brøndby in 2006/07 (2-2 a, 3-0 h).

The Londoners were crowned champions of Europe that season when they defeated Umeå in a two-legged final. Alex Scott's swerving effort from distance in the final moments of the first leg in Sweden was the only goal across both games.

The Gunners remain the only English club to win the competition.

This is Arsenal's 17th participation in the Women's Champions League; they competed in the group stage for a third time having missed out last season.

Their 2024/25 Women's Champions League journey began with a 6-0 win over Rangers on 4 September at Meadow Park, Foord scoring four, before they beat Rosenborg 1-0 in the round 1 final at the same venue three days later. In round 2, the Gunners lost 0-1 in the first leg away to Swedish side BK Häcken, but a 4-0 home victory in the second leg sent them into the group stage.

The English side went on to finish first in Group C ahead of Bayern, Juventus and Vålerenga after winning five of their six games (L1).

Arsenal have won all seven home games in Europe this season, scoring 22 goals and conceding only three.

Arsenal finished third in the Women's Super League last season, five points behind both Manchester City and champions Chelsea, but former coach Jonas Eidevall did lead them to a second consecutive FA Women's League Cup title.

Slegers took over from Eidevall in October.

Lyon

Record vs English clubs W9 D3 L3 F22 A15
Away record vs English clubs W5 D2 L0

Lyon's last encounter with an English team was a 2022/23 quarter-final against Chelsea, the French side recovering from a 0-1 first-leg defeat at home with a 2-0 victory in London eight days later.

OL lost just one of their first 11 games against English clubs (W7 D3) but two of the last four (W2).

Lyon are unbeaten in their seven away games against English teams and also won the 2011 Women's Champions League final against Turbine Potsdam at Craven Cottage (2-0), but they lost the 2013 final to Wolfsburg at Stamford Bridge (0-1), both in London.

Lyon are through to their 14th European semi-final, six more than any other team, defeating Bayern München 6-1 on aggregate (2-0 a, 4-1 h) in the quarter-finals.

They have won 11 of their previous 13 semi-final ties, and have 11 successive victories since losing their first two. Last season they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 5-3 on aggregate (3-2 h, 2-1 a) in an all-French last-four contest.

Lyon boasted the best defensive record in this season's group stage with just one goal conceded in their six games. They scored 19 in defeating Galatasaray (3-0 h, 6-0 a) and Roma (3-0 a, 4-1 h) in addition to their two wins against Wolfsburg.

Les Fenottes have scored 13 goals without conceding in their four away games in Europe this season.

The French outfit reached a record 11th final last season, losing 0-2 to Barcelona in Bilbao. Their last success in the competition came when they defeated the same opponents 3-1 in the 2022 final in Turin – their eighth win overall.

In her first season at Lyon, Kadidiatou Diani topped the scoring charts in the Women's Champions League last season with eight goals – two more than club-mate Ada Hegerberg, the competition's all-time record scorer. Diani has scored five goals in this season's competition, one more than Melchie Dumornay.

In all competitions, Lyon are unbeaten away from home in 2024/25 (W13 D2).

A Lyon side coached by Sonia Bompastor – who was replaced in the summer by Joe Montemurro – won their 17th league title in 2023/24, losing just one game. Those 17 championship successes have come in the past 18 seasons, the exception in 2020/21 when they finished runners-up.

Key facts

• Arsenal have won six of their last seven Women's Champions League matches (L1)

• The Gunners have been victorious in their last seven home European games, keeping clean sheets in five.

• Lyon have won their previous four UEFA semi-finals against English teams.

• The French side have lost only two of their previous 25 European semi-final matches (W16 D7).

• Lyon have won all of their eight Women's Champions League matches this season and have lost only one of their last 20 games in the competition (W17 D2).

UEFA Coach Mentor Programme

Opposing coaches Joe Montemurro and Renee Slegers worked together on the UEFA Coach Mentor Programme, the Australian guiding the former Netherlands international through the early stages of her coaching career between 2019 and 2021.

"I loved her curiosity," said Montemurro. "She just wanted to know and understand certain things. I'm honoured to have been part of maybe one thing that could have contributed to her taking with her for the rest of her life, and contributing to her development. She might use it against me, I don't know!"

Slegers fondly recalls a study visit to see Montemurro in his former role coaching her current club, where he encouraged her active participation in meetings and training sessions, describing him as "very open and inviting, which was very inspirational."

The UEFA Coach Mentor Programme aims to increase the number of women coaching club and national teams. Since its pilot in 2018, it has fostered a network of talented women, with over 70% of participants advancing to more senior roles, including notable figures like Slegers, Gemma Grainger and Nora Häuptle.