Lyon face Sparta Prague as Champions League route already looks distant | OneFootball

L'Équipe notes that Lyon, still short and at times worrying in recent friendlies, must resist Sparta Prague on Tuesday at 20:00 to qualify for the play-offs and keep alive their bid to return to the Champions League.

They ended last season empty, losing 1-2 at Toulouse then 0-4 against Lens. It was immediately clear that fourth place would sour their holidays and reshape the summer.

Had they known the campaign would restart two weeks earlier than others, in sweltering Czechia, against a tricky opponent with a vengeful mole, things might have been different.

With the prospect of then having to tackle Fenerbahçe, Mason Greenwood's side, in the play-offs, probably, they might have scraped at least one point from the final two Ligue 1 rounds to finish third ahead of Lille.

As it stands, the route already looks complicated and the Champions League still feels a long way off.

Source: L'Équipe