Lyon, managed by Paulo Fonseca, were reduced to ten men from the 19th minute and eliminated from the Europa League round of 16 today, losing at home 2-0 to Celta de Vigo.
A reckless challenge by Senegalese defender Moussa Niakhate earned him a straight red card, severely disrupting the Portuguese coach’s strategy. Lyon had drawn 1-1 in Vigo in the first leg.
The tie began to be decided on 61 minutes when right-back Javier Rueda finished off an intricate attacking move down the right — reflecting Celta’s dominance in every aspect of the match. In the 90+2nd minute, with the French side desperate, a lethal counter-attack finished by Ferran Jutglà definitively settled Celta’s qualification for the quarter-finals.
Read more: Europa League: Braga overturn Ferencváros and reach quarter-finals (with video)
The Galician side will face German club Freiburg, who had trailed 1-0 from their first leg in Belgium against Genk but thrashed the Belgian side 5-1, leading the tie on aggregate by the 25th minute through goals from Matthias Ginter (19′) and Croatian Igor Matanovic. Matte Smets (39′) pulled one back for Genk to level the tie, but second-half goals from Vincenzo Grifo (53′), Yuito Suzuki (57′) and Maximilian Eggestein (79′) confirmed Freiburg’s progress.
