Paris Saint-Germain vs Lyon preview: team news, form guide

A mere 17 days after meeting for the French Cup in Auxerre, one of the game's great rivalries resumes as Paris Saint-Germain play Lyon in the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals in Bilbao.

Paris were the last team to knock Lyon out of this competition, in the 2014/15 round of 16. Since then Lyon have won four straight titles to take their tally to six, crushing Paris in the 2015/16 semis and pipping them in an epic final shoot-out the following year in Cardiff.

With 14 straight league titles, and another win on penalties in the bag from earlier this month, Lyon have held the edge on their domestic rivals, like most other teams, but with Griedge Mbock Bathy out, Ada Hegerberg yet to appear and possibly Amandine Henry also missing, and Paris looking strong against Arsenal on Saturday, there is little in it.

Meet the teams

Paris

UEFA ranking: 4
This season: P5 W4 D1 L0 F16 A2
How they got here: Braga 7-0agg (R32), Breidablik 7-1agg (R16), Arsenal 2-1 (QF)
Last five games: WDWWW
Top scorer: Marie-Antoinette Katoto (5)
Last season: Quarter-final
European best: Final (2014/15, 2016/17)

Lyon
UEFA ranking: 1
This season: P5 W5 D0 L0 F29 A1
How they got here: Ryazan 16-0agg (R32), Fortuna Hjørring 11-0agg (R16), Bayern 2-1 (QF)
Last five games: WDWWW
Top scorer: Ada Hegerberg (9)
Last season: Winners
European best: Winners (2010/11, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19)

Possible line-ups

Paris: Endler; Lawrence, Paredes, Dudek; Morroni, Diani, Däbritz, Nadim, Geyoro; Bachmann, Katoto.
Out: none

Lyon: Bouhaddi; Bronze, Buchanan, Renard, Majri; Gunnarsdóttir/Henry, Kumagai; Cascarino, Marozsán, Le Sommer; Parris
Out: Hegerberg (knee), Mbock Bathy (Achilles), Silva (Achilles)
Doubtful: Henry (calf)

Previous meetings

These sides met in the French Cup final on 9 August, Lyon winning 4-3 on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes. Lyon also beat Paris on penaties in September to win the first Trophée des Championnes Féminin in Guingamp, and 1-0 at home through Saki Kumagai in the league on 16 November. Paris's last win came in the 2018 French Cup final. In 44 meetings, Lyon have won 32 to Paris's five, with seven draws.

In this competition, Lyon beat Paris on penalties in the 2017 final in Cardiff and comfortably in the previous year's semi. However, Paris were actually the last team to eliminate Lyon in 2014/15.

01/06/17 (Cardiff): Lyon 0-0 Paris, 7-6pens

02/05/16: Paris 0-1 Lyon (Schelin 44)
24/04/16: Lyon 7-0 Paris (Hegerberg 18 40, Le Sommer 28 43, Abily 45+1, Nécib 73, Schelin 76)

12/11/14: Lyon 0-1 Paris (Alushi 80)
08/11/14: Paris 1-1 Lyon (Alushi 49; Petit 21)

Expert view

Verónica Boquete, 2015 winner with Frankfurt
The gap between Lyon and Paris, as well as the rest of the great European teams, has narrowed a lot in recent years. Now, it's realistic to say Paris can eliminate Lyon from this Champions League. The ticket to the final is at stake but also the national pride of being the best French team. Paris will want revenge after losing the Coupe de France final a couple of weeks ago, while Lyon will want to show that they continue to dominate in France and Europe. I am looking forward to an even game, with plenty of tension!

Annike Krahn, 2009 winner with Duisburg
Lyon vs Paris is the match-up in French football. Lyon are definitely favourites but Paris have showed in their last match that they can compete at this level. In the French Cup final a few weeks ago it took penalties for Lyon to triumph.

It's a massive game for Paris and they'll be hugely motivated to do everything they can to reach the final. Lyon, meanwhile, are mainstays at this stage of the competition, with buckets of experience. Both teams know each other well and it's going to be the finer details that end up deciding the match. I'm looking forward to an exciting and close-fought match! Let's see which German player makes the final come the end of it – Dzsenifer Marozsán or Sara Däbritz.

What the coaches say

Olivier Echouafni, Paris: "It's a different challenge to the other three [matches with Lyon this season], we’re in a Champions League semi-final, now and represents almost two years of work. We are fully focused on this match. There’s a lot of determination and desire to give a good performance, and get to the final. We know who this team are, we know it’s quite logical to call Lyon favourites, when you’re the holders and in search of your fifth consecutive title, of course you automatically earn the status of favourites. We're progressing, we work in stages. I honestly think our group has passed a key phase of their maturity."

Jean-Luc Vasseur, Lyon: "We’ve beaten Paris three times this year, so now, it’s a case of the right mentality, that’s the aspect which will make the different. We must remain the masters of the match, and not become frustrated. Honestly, I am around champions on a daily basis, they have this will to always win. Nikita [Parris, who suffered a knock while scoring in the quarter-final] is doing well, whereas for Amandine [Henry], we hope that we’ll be able to bring her in tomorrow."

What's next?

The final is at 20:00 CET in San Sebastián on Sunday.