When Gérard Prêcheur’s Olympique Lyonnais came to Manchester they were expected to leave with the win. And with three away goals, the UEFA Women’s Champions’ League holders look to be heading to Cardiff. Despite a dominant score-line of 3-1 the manager was full of praise for the hosts and more broadly, the game itself.

‘I think my prediction has come true, I said yesterday in the press conference that we’d see an excellent game today and we’ve seen a good performance from both sides.”

“A good entertaining afternoon of football”

That is how Lyon’s manager summarised the first leg of the UWCL semi-finals. As expected from a manager whose side hold the advantage for the second leg, Prêcheur commended his team, “I’m very pleased with the performance from my girls”, elaborating that “in the sense that the game in general was very good; entertaining, a lot of technique and skill on display.”

Keen to underline that the entertaining afternoon was contributed to by both sides, the Frenchman expressed his thoughts on the hosts, “we’ve seen a good performance from City, whenever they had the ball they tried to get it down and play, pass it and they never gave up.”

There was praise for the Citizens off the pitch too as the Lyon manager thanked the club for its hospitality, additionally noting that “the men’s club are a big and successful club and with the infrastructure in place for the women’s game, it won’t be long before they are joining them. “

Quick starts and a wealth of experience

While the manager did give praise to the opposition, his side’s dominance was undeniable. Within two minutes of kick off Lyon had earned a corner and penalty - which Saki Kumagai converted – and Prêcheur tells the media that this rapid start was the plan all along “I think City and OL have a very similar style of play” the manager began, further explaining that “it was important from the word go that we impose our style of play on them.”

Even with an abrupt start to the game, Kosovare Asllani found the equaliser for Manchester City, but Prêcheur believes that it was his team’s experience that was the leading ingredient in the recipe for Champion’s League success.

“I think that we have played together a lot and the experience of the girls did count for a lot in terms of what’s at stake mentally and emotionally on such a big occasion.”

Using the quarter-finals match against Wolfsburg for reference, the manager explained that “against Wolfsburg we struggled to keep the ball, we panicked in possession, I wanted to see more of a serenity and our girls being calm on the ball,” and Prêcheur believes that his team executed his wish despite spells of pressure from City.

A bench full of international talent

Lyon is loaded with talent and the recent addition of US star Alex Morgan only makes team selection for the manager a more difficult task. When asked his thought process behind Morgan’s substitution, Prêcheur invited the media to consider his options, “on my bench I only have internationals, as well as in my starting 11. It is difficult to leave someone with the ability of Eugénie Le Sommer out.”

The manager gave additional insight into the decision, stating that he didn’t “think she was on top form in the first half” adding “I didn’t want to change any positions so it was a straight striker for a striker swap.”

One eye on Cardiff?

Now that the holders take a huge advantage into their home leg, surely, they are well on the way to Cardiff for the final? Not quite, Prêcheur insists, “no, it’s never over. You have to look at occasions in the men’s game, like the famous Barcelona comeback against Paris Saint Germain.” But Gérard Prêcheur is a smart manager and it shows as he humbly shared “I would be dishonest and a hypocrite if I didn’t say that we haven’t made a pretty good step,” yet remained grounded, “but at the same time we have to go into the game and be careful and vigilant.”

When Manchester City knocked Liverpool out of the Women’s FA Cup semi-final, Prêcheur was in the stands. Now having seen how the Citizens shape up against his side, the manager knows what to do to move forward to the finals of the competition.

“We’ve shown what we’re capable of but we know that City are capable of if we let them have the ball,” and he believes that “it’s a case of starting again and repeating this quality performance at home to make sure that they don’t get a foothold.”

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About the author
Katie Mishner
Women football writer and Newcastle United supporter. Email: [email protected]