The Gones search for a ghost of a soul

Welcome to the Groupama Stadium, a concrete palace where European dreams and mid-table reality often collide in a shower of expensive tears. Tonight, Olympique Lyonnais welcomes Celta Vigo for the return leg of an Europa League Round of 16 tie that, quite frankly, didn't deserve a second act. After a 1-1 draw in Galicia that was roughly as exciting as watching a spreadsheet calculate interest, both teams arrive in the Rhône with everything to play for and absolutely no conviction to do so.

Lyon currently sits 4th in Ligue 1 with 47 points, a statistic that suggests they are actually GOOD at football, despite empirical evidence to the contrary. Paulo Fonseca has spent the season trying to instill Portuguese sophistication into a squad that occasionally forgets which way to run. They arrived in Vigo last week like tourists in flip-flops, looking surprised that the Spanish actually intended to tackle them. The 1-1 result was a heist of the highest order, salvaged by a goal that had more to do with luck than any discernible tactical plan.

Across the pitch, Celta Vigo is currently 6th in La Liga. They are the ultimate Spanish paradox: capable of playing like prime Barcelona on a Tuesday and then losing to a team of part-time accountants on a Saturday. They dominated the first leg but possessed the clinical edge of a butter knife. Iago Aspas is still there, of course, probably destined to play for Celta until the heat death of the universe, but even his magic can only do so much when his teammates treat the penalty area as a restricted zone.

The formula for tonight is simple: Lyon will dominate possession and pass the ball in concentric circles until the crowd begins to whistle, while Celta will wait for the inevitable moment that the Lyon defense decides to go on an unscheduled coffee break. It is a battle of the mediocre giants, a THRILLING prospect for anyone who finds excitement in tactical stalemates and misplaced crosses.

Lyon 2-1 Celta Vigo