Hello and welcome here the 20 Minutos! A match in a club the size of FC Porto, on a Wednesday evening at the opening of a certain Real Madrid-PSG, it’s good, the flavor of the knockout stages of the Champions League is officially back for Lyon supporters, no ? Jokes aside, this Europa League poster is really good, it’s quite simply the most exciting match on the European scene for OL since the half of the Final 8 of C1 against Bayern (0-3), in August 2020 in Lisbon. Deprived of the European Cup last season, and solid winners of a Europa League pool well within reach in the fall (16 points out of 18 at stake), Anthony Lopes’ partners will play big this Wednesday ( 6:45 p.m.). They had the good idea to trigger a coherent dynamic in the championship (9th, 6 points from the podium), especially by signing their biggest success of the season in Lorient on Friday (1-4). Apart from the (new) tile concerning Jérôme Boateng (muscular pain), OL will have all their vital forces for this shock, Sinaly Diomande and Rayan Cherki being injured for a long time. So much the better because another world awaits them at the Estádio do Dragão. Namely a big European reference, donated to the Europa League after having narrowly failed in a pool of death, behind Liverpool and Atlético de Madrid, but ahead of AC Milan. A team capable of dominating Lazio Rome in the C3 play-offs, but above all of being undefeated for a year and a half in the Portuguese championship. An incredible series of 53 games without the slightest defeat which speaks volumes about the regularity of Sergio Conceiçao’s men, legitimate favorites in this double confrontation. If Porto released its Colombian phenomenon Luiz Diaz (for 45 million euros) during the last winter transfer window, there is attacking talent everywhere in this team, between Vitinha, Evanilson and Taremi for example. We can’t wait to see to what extent Peter Bosz’s OL can resist such a collective in a big European deadline. The major objective will undoubtedly be to still be in a position to aim for qualification for the quarterfinals, at 8:45 p.m., before the return match on March 17 in Décines. See you soon, friends.
“To vibrate with us in front of this Porto-OL clash, go here from 6.30 p.m., with a kick-off at 6.45 p.m.…
Source: 20minutes
