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Lyon's greatest nights at Stade de Gerland

With Lyon's Stade de Gerland staging its final UEFA fixture this evening, UEFA.com's French reporting team remembers the stadium's greatest European nights.

The sun is setting on the Stade de Gerland's time as a UEFA venue
The sun is setting on the Stade de Gerland's time as a UEFA venue ©UEFA.com

Lyon move to the Stade de Lyon in January, meaning the UEFA Champions League home game against Gent will be their final European fixture at the Stade de Gerland, whether they make it to the round of 32 or not. UEFA.com recalls the arena's greatest UEFA Champions League nights.

Lyon 3-0 Bayern
06/03/01, second group stage

The highlight of Lyon's first extended adventure in Europe's top club competition, this trouncing of the eventual winners is generally acknowledged as the game during which Lyon fell in love with the competition. A young Sidney Govou beat Oliver Kahn twice in the first 21 minutes to alert Europe to the existence of one of the world's great footballing academies.

Sylvain Wiltord after scoring one of his three against Bremen
Sylvain Wiltord after scoring one of his three against Bremen©Getty Images

Lyon 7-2 Bremen
08/03/05, round of 16 second leg
Lyon's highest-scoring game in Europe was this extraordinary defeat of a highly-rated Bremen side, Sylvain Wiltord scoring a hat-trick for Paul Le Guen's team as Johan Micoud return to France with the visitors was upstaged. "It was great fun," beamed midfielder Florent Malouda. "It showed that Lyon are now capable of doing great things in this competition."

Lyon 3-0 Madrid
13/09/05, group stage

John Carew, Juninho Pernambucano and Wiltord all scored in the first 31 minutes and it would have been 4-0 by half-time had Iker Casillas not saved the Brazilian's penalty. 'No Real problem for Lyon' punned Libération the following morning. "I don't care about beating Real Madrid if we don't progress," said coach Gérard Houllier; his side did that and more, getting as far as the last eight.

Lyon 4-0 PSV
08/03/06, round of 16 second leg

Lyon avenged their last-eight exit of the previous season in some style, two Tiago goals setting them on their way for a third successive quarter-final appearance. Fred scored the fourth having been given a police escort from the maternity ward to the Gerland in order to play after watching his wife give birth to their daughter, Geovanna. "I always felt that I was going to score," he beamed.

Lyon 3-1 Bordeaux
30/03/10, quarter-final first leg

Two Lisandro goals and a splendid left-footed effort from Felipe Bastos in this all-French tie set Claude Puel's Lyon on course for the semi-finals, where they lost out to Bayern. It was perhaps closer than the scoreline suggested, as Lyon midfielder Kim Källström acknowledged: "Games like this can go either way. We were efficient in front of goal and I think we deserved it overall."

Lyon celebrate getting the better of Real Madrid in 2005
Lyon celebrate getting the better of Real Madrid in 2005©Getty Images

 

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