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Zenit v Lyon facts

Zenit's Group G progress has been stalled by successive defeats as they welcome a Lyon side who would qualify with a win.

Sardar Azmoun after scoring for Zenit at Lyon on Matchday 1
Sardar Azmoun after scoring for Zenit at Lyon on Matchday 1 ©AFP/Getty Images

Zenit have lost ground in Group G and cannot afford a third successive defeat as Lyon come to Russia on Matchday 5.

• The teams drew 1-1 at OL Stadium on Matchday 1, Memphis Depay's 51st-minute penalty for the home side cancelling out Sardar Azmoun's opener for Zenit four minutes before the break. Both Lyon and Zenit won their next game, but Zenit have not since added to that total; Lyon have seven points and are second behind Leipzig (nine) with Benfica on three.

• Lyon will be through if they win in Russia; Zenit will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose.

Highlights: Lyon 1-1 Zenit

Previous meetings
• Zenit won both games against Lyon when the teams were drawn together in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage. Artem Dzyuba gave Zenit an early lead in St Petersburg and, though Alexandre Lacazette equalised soon after half-time, further goals from Hulk and Danny gave the Russian side the points.

• Dzyuba got both goals as Zenit won 2-0 at the Stade de Gerland, Lyon's former home, on Matchday 4. Zenit went on to finish top of the group on 15 points, nine above third-placed Lyon.

Highlights: Zenit 0-2 Leipzig

Form guide
Zenit
• Zenit were 3-1 winners at home to Benfica on Matchday 2 but were then beaten at Leipzig (1-2) and at home by the German club (0-2). They have won only two of their last nine European matches (D1 L6).

• Zenit have won seven of their last nine home European matches, and 12 of their last 15 (D1 L2). Their record in St Petersburg in the UEFA Champions League group stage is W8 D8 L4.

• Zenit claimed their sixth USSR/Russian league title in 2018/19, and the first since 2015; their last five triumphs have all come from 2007 onwards.

• This is the St Petersburg outfit's seventh UEFA Champions League group campaign, and a first since 2015/16, when they reached the round of 16 for the third time.

Highlights: Zenit 3-1 Benfica

• In 2018/19, Zenit's 12th successive European campaign, they began in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, staging an astonishing second-leg comeback against Dinamo Minsk in St Petersburg to win 8-1 after extra time following a shock 4-0 first-leg defeat in Belarus. They went on to beat Molde in the play-offs and finish first in a group including Slavia Praha, Bordeaux and Copenhagen, beating Fenerbahçe in the round of 32 before losing home (1-3) and away (1-2) against Villarreal in the round of 16.

• Zenit have never lost at home to French visitors (W4 D2), most recently beating Bordeaux 2-1 in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage. Home and away, they are unbeaten in five matches (W3 D2), since a 2-0 loss at Monaco on Matchday 6 of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League.

Highlights: Lyon 3-1 Benfica

Lyon
• After winning 2-0 at Leipzig on Matchday 2, Lyon went down 2-1 to Benfica in Lisbon in their third game, but were 3-1 victors against the Portuguese club in France on 5 November.

• Lyon have lost only three of their last 16 European matches (W6 D7).

• Third in Ligue 1 last season, this is Lyon's 16th UEFA Champions League group campaign – four more than any other French club – and fourth in five seasons.

• Les Gones won their first game in last season's UEFA Champions League, 2-1 at Manchester City, before drawing the next five and qualifying for the round of 16 with a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 6. A 5-1 second-leg loss at Barcelona in the round of 16 ended their interest in last season's competition.

Highlights: Leipzig 0-2 Lyon

• The French club have lost only three of their last 11 European away fixtures (W5 D3). They picked up five points away from home in the 2018/19 group stage.

• Lyon's last visit to Russia ended in a 1-0 success at CSKA Moskva in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg, their first victory there at the fourth attempt (D2 L1), although they went on to lose that tie on away goals after a 3-2 home defeat. Home and away, they have won only once in their last six games against Russian clubs (D2 L3) having been victorious in two of the first three (D1).

• Lyon were UEFA Champions League semi-finalists in 2010.

Watch Hulk's Zenit stunner against Lyon in 2015

Links and trivia
• Emanuel Mammana joined Lyon in July 2016, scoring once in 17 league appearances that season before switching to Zenit.

• Zenit boss Sergei Semak played for Paris Saint-Germain from 2005–06, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute in a 1-0 win at Lyon in April 2005.

• Have played together:
Branislav Ivanović & Bertrand Traoré (Chelsea 2015/16)

• Has played in France:
Malcom (Bordeaux 2016–18)

• Malcom, who was an unused substitute in both legs of Barcelona's last-16 win against Lyon last season, scored twice in Bordeaux's 3-3 draw at Lyon in August 2017.

Latest news

Zenit
• Russian Premier League leaders Zenit have won 12 of their 17 league games this season (D3 L2), and are unbeaten in the last six (W5 D1). They were 2-1 victors at Rubin on Saturday and have a five-point lead at the top of the table.

• Artem Dzyuba has provided the most assists (9) in this season's Russian Premier League. He has also scored ten goals himself, including the winner on Saturday.

• Zenit beat Tom 4-0 in the Russian Cup last 16 on 30 October and will be at home to Akhmat in the quarter-finals in March.

• Daler Kuzyaev scored his first international goal, on his 21st appearance, as Russia rounded off their successful UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying campaign with a 5-0 away victory in San Marino on 19 November.

• Dzyuba did not find the net against San Marino but nevertheless finished as Russia's top scorer in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying with nine goals, also providing five assists.

• Róbert Mak was sent off as Slovakia suffered a 3-1 defeat in Croatia on 19 November, subsequently missing out on automatic qualification for next year's tournament.

• Sardar Azmoun, who opened the scoring at Rubin on Saturday, has been included on the list for the AFC Asian International Player of the Year award.

• Malcom, who has not played since 10 August due to a thigh injury, has undergone surgery and is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the year.

• Emanuel Mammana suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury against Ural on 6 October and is likely to be out for several months.

• Zenit lost 3-2 to Lokomotiv Moskva in the Russian Super Cup on 6 July.

Lyon
• Lyon's three-match winning run was ended by a 2-1 defeat at coach Rudi Garcia's former side Marseille on 10 November. They bounced back with a 2-1 win at home to Nice on Saturday, despite losing Fernando Marçal to a first-half red card.

• Lyon have 19 points after 14 league games in 2019/20, eight less than at the same stage last season.

• Memphis Depay (five goals) and Moussa Dembélé (four) have scored nine of OL's last 12 goals in all competitions, and seven of the last eight in Ligue 1 – four for Dembélé and three for Depay. The exception was Jeff Reine-Adélaïde's opener against Nice on Saturday, his first goal for Lyon.

• Lyon parted company with coach Sylvinho on 7 October, the day after a 1-0 defeat at local rivals St-Étienne. Garcia took over as the Brazilian's replacement on 14 October and recorded his first win in his third fixture, defeating Metz 2-0 at home on 26 October.

• Dembélé and Depay secured victory against Metz, ending Lyon's run of eight Ligue 1 games without a win (D4 L4). That was Lyon's longest streak without a league win in a single season since August–October 1977.

• Lyon beat Angers 6-0 on 16 August, their biggest home league win since an 8-1 victory against Le Mans on 13 May 2006.

• Dembélé (ten) and Depay (seven) have scored 17 of Lyon's 22 league goals so far this season. Maxwel Cornet's goal against Brest on 25 September was the last scored in Ligue 1 by another Lyon player before Reine-Adélaïde struck on Saturday.

• Marçal (thigh) had not played since 19 October before returning on Saturday.

• Depay (thigh) had not played since Matchday 4 before taking part in the Netherlands' 5-0 win against Estonia on 19 November, three days after the Dutch had confirmed their place at UEFA EURO 2020. He was withdrawn at half-time and did not play against Nice having suffered a recurrence of the problem.

• Houssem Aouar (hamstring) has not played since 9 November.

• Depay, who has scored in all four Group G matches, was named OL captain on 21 November.