(Football news) The two teams have previously met on four occasions in the Champions League, last doing so back in 2008 when the Red Devils won the competition, but this contest represents their first encounter in the Europa League.

Five days after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, Manchester United played out a dull and disappointing goalless stalemate with rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday – a lackluster contest in which neither side covered themselves in glory.

Ruben Amorim has suggested that fans should not have expected a reprise of the iconic derbies of the past, given where the two struggling teams on the red and blue sides of Manchester are at the moment, but Red Devil supporters still expect far more from a side that Amorim claims is “improving”.

European qualification via the Premier League is an unrealistic target for Man United, who are on course for their worst-ever season in the division as they are currently languishing in 13th place with just 38 points from 31 matches, seven points behind the top half of the table.

Europa League glory is still up for grabs, though, and Manchester United are still the only team in this season’s competition who are yet to taste defeat (W6 D4), most recently beating Real Sociedad 5-2 on aggregate in the last 16, with captain Bruno Fernandes netting a superb hat-trick in a 4-1 second-leg victory last month.

Manchester United have in fact lost just one of their last 21 Europa League games – a 3-0 defeat at Sevilla in April 2023 which is the only time during this run that they have failed to score – while the Red Devils have not lost any of their last 11 first-leg knockout ties in Europe since losing 1-0 to Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League.

Since enduring a seven-game winless run in all competitions between mid-January and the beginning of February, Lyon have won seven of their last 10 matches, including six of their last seven in which they have scored 19 goals in the process.

Les Gones bounced back from a 4-2 Ligue 1 defeat at Strasbourg to win 2-1 at home to Lille on Saturday, with goals either side of half time from ex-Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette and Rayan Cherki helping them come from behind to claim maximum points.

While head coach Paulo Fonseca continues to serve a nine-month ban for angrily confronting a referee, assistant Jorge Maciel is tasked with leading Lyon from the touchline and currently sees his team sitting fifth in the Ligue 1 standings, just two points behind the top three and automatic Champions League qualification spots with six games remaining.

After finishing sixth in the 36-team Europa League table earlier this season, three places below Man United, before thrashing FCSB 7-1 on aggregate in the last 16, Lyon are now bidding to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition for the first time since the 2019-20 Champions League.

However, Lyon have never beaten Manchester United in four previous attempts and let leads slip to draw both home encounters in September 2004 (2-2) and February 2008 (1-1); Les Gones have only faced La Liga giants Barcelona (eight) on more occasions without ever winning in Europe. Meanwhile, they have also lost each of their last three two-legged ties against English opponents.

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