Olympique Lyonnais v West Ham United
UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Thursday 14 April 2022, 8pm BST (9pm CET)
West Ham United's European tour continues with a UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg at Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening.
Having overcome opposition from Croatia, Belgium, Austria and Spain to reach the last eight, the Hammers now face French Ligue 1 club Lyon, with a place in the semi-finals the reward for the winners on aggregate - or penalties!
With the first leg at London Stadium ending 1-1 last Thursday evening, it is all to play for in France, where David Moyes' squad will try to reach the Club's first proper European semi-final in 46 years.
Both clubs topped their respective Europa League groups, with West Ham dominating GNK Dinamo Zagreb, KRC Genk and Rapid Vienna to win Group H with a game to spare, while Lyon won Group A without losing a match to finish ahead of Rangers, Sparta Prague and Brøndby IF.
West Ham then came from behind to defeat Sevilla 2-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, while Lyon held off Porto by the same scoreline.
Looking back into history, West Ham won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, reached the final again in 1976 and made the quarter-finals in 1981, losing to Soviet Cup winners Dinamo Tbilisi. In 1999, Harry Redknapp's side won the UEFA Intertoto Cup and reached the UEFA Cup second round. The Hammers were twice involved in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds in 2015 and 2016, but were eliminated before the tournament proper.
Lyon are seeking their first proper European trophy, having reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League (twice), the Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup previously, while also winning the Intertoto Cup in 1997.
This quarter-final marks the first competitive meeting between the two clubs, so let's find out more ahead of Thursday's all-important second leg.
Ticket news
Standard Tickets sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 20+ Points.
Matchday Information
Parc Olympique Lyonnais is located seven miles east of Lyon city centre.
The West Ham United supporters' section at Parc Olympique Lyonnais is situated in the South section of the stadium.
We strongly advise supporters to only travel if they have purchased a ticket directly though West Ham United. Supporters purchasing tickets in the Home sections will not be permitted entry and will not be re-located to the visiting supporters section.
Supporters will be able to collect their ticket from the Ibis Lyon Gerland Musee des Confluences, situated Les Berges Du Rhone, 68 Av. Leclerc, 69007 Lyon. Supporters should note that the collection point is around 30 minutes by car, or around an hour by public transport, from the stadium.
You will be able to collect the ticket in your name on production of photo ID. Please note that we are unable to accept any third party collections and the ticket can only be collected by the named ticket holder.
Tickets can be collected between 10am-7pm on Wednesday 13 April (local time) and 10am-6pm on Thursday 14 April. Tickets can only be collected from the hotel as there is no facility to collect tickets at the stadium.
To get to the stadium, take Tram 5 from Grange Blanche station to Eurexpo station (journey time is around 20 minutes), then board the special shuttle service to the away turnstiles at Parc Olympique Lyonnais (journey time is around 15 minutes).
If you are driving or arriving by coach/minibus, park at Eurexpo Visiteurs Ouest – Boulevard de l’Europe, 69680 Chassieu and board the special shuttle service to/from the stadium.
Click here for full information on how to travel to/from the stadium on matchday.
How can I follow the game?
Kick-off on Thursday at 8pm UK time (9pm in Lyon), with the tie being broadcast live on television by BT Sport 1 in the UK. Please check your local TV listings if you live outside the UK.
We will also be covering the game live with a blog and audio commentary on whufc.com and our Official App and across our social media channels, with goals, highlights and exclusive reaction to follow after the final whistle.
Team news
For West Ham United, Lyon-born centre-back Kurt Zouma has been ruled out after suffering a twisted ankle in Sunday's Premier League fixture at Brentford.
Italian defender Angelo Ogbonna is still unavailable after undergoing knee surgery before Christmas, while left-back Aaron Cresswell will miss Thursday's match through suspension after being sent-off in the first leg.
For Lyon, Peter Bosz saw three of his regular starters limp off injured during their 1-1 draw at Strasbourg on Sunday.
Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, midfielders Tanguy Ndombele and Houssem Aouar all departed during the game, while defender Thiago Mendes is also reportedly nursing a knock.
Prior to those potential losses, Bosz already knew he would be without teenage attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki (foot), defender Sinaly Diomandé (ankle) and central midfielder Maxence Caqueret (back).
UEFA Europa League
If Thursday's second leg ends level, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played.
The away-goal rule is no longer applicable and all goals are counted equally. So, if the scores are still level on aggregate at the end of extra time, a penalty shootout will be held.
Each manager may use five substitutes in normal time, and a sixth substitute may be used during extra time, if it is needed. However, the five normal-time substitutions can only be made during three stoppages in play (not including half-time) and the sixth during a fourth stoppage in play during extra time (not including half-time in extra time).
The opposition – Olympique Lyonnais
The origins of Olympique Lyonnais in 1950 echo those of West Ham United exactly 50 years earlier.
For, just as was the case within Thames Ironworks in 1900, it was internal disagreements over the use of both amateur and professional players within Lyon Olympique Universitaire that led to the formation of a new, professional club in August 1950.
Similar to the early West Ham United, who moved into the Boleyn Ground four years after the club’s reformation, Olympique Lyonnais – or Lyon, for short – moved into the Stade de Gerland just months after coming into existence, and both clubs would incidentally remain at their historic homes until 2016.
On the pitch, Lyon quickly established themselves, winning Ligue 2 in their first season, 1950/51, before lifting their first Coupe de France in 1964 – the same year West Ham won the FA Cup for the first time – under the management of former France international midfielder Lucien Jasseron (pictured, below).
Lyon would win a second Coupe de France in 1967 and a third in 1973, but the club from France’s third-largest city remained largely in the sizeable green shadow of local rivals AS Saint-Étienne, who themselves won Ligue 1 eight times between 1963/64 and 1975/76.
In 1983, while the France national team had emerged into one of the best in the world, Lyon were relegated to Ligue 2, where they would remain for the next six years.
During that period, in 1987, the club was bought by local businessman Jean-Michel Aulas, who unveiled an ambitious plan entitled OL – Europe with the aim of taking Lyon back to Ligue 1 and into European competition within four years.
Aulas cleared the club’s debts, restructured its finances and transformed it into one of the richest and most powerful in France.
By the turn of the millennium, Aulas’ vision was becoming a reality and in 2001/02, Lyon were crowned champions of France for the first time in their history, led by Brazilian trio Sonny Anderson, Juninho Pernambucano and Edmílson, as well as outstanding France midfielder Eric Carrière.
Amazingly, Lyon would retain the Ligue 1 title in each of the next six seasons, despite changing manager twice, first after Jacques Santini departed to coach France in 2002, then when Paul Le Guen resigned and was replaced by Gérard Houllier in 2005.
During that streak, Lyon also won a fourth Coupe de France, its first Coupe de la Ligue and a record six Trophée des Champions, and also reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on three occasions.
Despite being the final pillar of Aulas' masterplan, a major European trophy still eludes Lyon, whose sole continental success came in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1997.
West Ham United supporters will hope that remains the case come the end of Thursday’s second leg…
Previous meetings
Thursday's tie will be the second competitive meeting between West Ham United and Olympique Lyonnais, following last week's 1-1 first-leg draw in east London.
Prior to that, West Ham's one previous experience of French opposition in UEFA competition came against Metz in one of the three 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals, when Harry Redknapp's side lost the first leg 0-1 at home before winning 3-1 away.
OL are unbeaten in their last seven matches against English opposition, winning four and drawing three, including a 3-1 single-leg UEFA Champions League quarter-final success against Manchester City in Lisbon in July 2020.
Overall, Lyon have played against English clubs 22 times, winning eight, drawing nine and losing six. The Frenchmen are also unbeaten in their last 12 home European ties, although eight of those have been drawn.
Match officials
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)
Assistant Referees: Bekim Zogaj (SUI) and Jan Köbeli (SUI)
Fourth Official: Davide Massa (ITA)
VAR: Marco Di Bello (ITA)
Assistant VAR: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
A full international referee for FIFA since 2015, 33-year-old Sandro Schärer was born in Buttikon in northern Switzerland, and also works as a teacher outside of football.
The official has previously refereed five times in the UEFA Champions League – including in RB Leipzig’s defeat of Manchester City earlier this season – and 15 times in the Europa League over the last six campaigns, including the first leg of our round of 16 tie with Spanish side Sevilla in March.
Prior to that, he previously blew the whistle for an English side in this competition when Manchester United defeated Real Sociedad away in a fixture between two of David Moyes' old clubs last season.
Schärer most regularly officiates in his native Switzerland, where he has refereed 135 top-flight matches over nine seasons in the Swiss Super League.