Celta knock out ten-man Lyon
After an early red card for Moussa Niakhaté, Lyon lost to Celta Vigo, 2-0 on the evening and 3-1 on aggregate in the Europa League Round of 16.
An early red complicates things for the hosts
Playing at home after earning a one-all draw in Vigo last week against Spanish side Celta, Olympique Lyonnais were eager to secure their place in the quarterfinals, and Paulo Fonseca named an unchanged side, with fit-again Malick Fofana and Pavel Šulc on the bench, as well as American Tanner Tessmann. Relying on an attacking partnership of veteran Roman Yaremchuk and young Real Madrid loanee Endrick, Lyon took their time getting into the match, with the visitors controlling much of the possession early doors. The first chance of the match would fall to Yaremchuk, who just failed to get on the end of a ball over the top (14').
Moments later, Lyon's hurdle became much higher, with Moussa Niakhaté sent off for a high challenge with just eighteen minutes gone. Just before the half hour, Celta would come close to making that advantage pay, but Dominik Greif did well to keep out Williot Swedberg in the area. From there, though, the hosts gave as good as they got, with Greif only having to keep out a speculative effort and the first half coming to a draw with neither side having broken the deadlock.
First match back for Malick Fofana since Oct. 26 🇧🇪❤️ pic.twitter.com/lnf7jv070N
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 19, 2026
A challenging second half
Into the second half, Celta made changes at the break, and were insistent against Lyon's defence, forcing the hosts into several last-ditch blocks and clearances, but Les Gones continued to hold strong. Just past the hour, though, Lyon's resistance was finally broken by Javi Rueda, who had scored in the first leg for the Spanish side, taking advantage of some loose marking at the back post to tap the ball past Greif.
Lyon would battle, making attacking changes including bringing on Šulc, but it was to little effect as they failed to generate any clear-cut chances, but would see the return of Fofana after some five months out through injury. Even as they would keep the Galicians at bay until added time, where Ferrán Jugtla sealed the result they were far from ever coming back into the tie, and saw their European campaign come to an end. Next up for Les Gones is a crucial home match against in-form AS Monaco on Sunday in Ligue 1 McDonald's, a match they'll have to win to keep pace with the top four.
