Retro: Olympique Lyonnais 2-2 Manchester United

A look back at the first ever meeting between Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester United.

Match Date: Wednesday 15th September 2004, K.O. 20:45 (CET).
Venue: Stade de Gerland, Lyon.
Competition: UEFA Champions League Group D (Matchday 1).

Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester United crossed paths for the very first time when they were drawn into the same Champions League group at the start of the 2004-05 season. It was United’s ninth visit to France and remarkably the ninth different French opponent they had faced. Previous trips had taken the Red Devils to Strasbourg (1965), Saint-Etienne (1977), Montpellier (1991), Monaco (1998), Marseille (1999), Bordeaux (2000), Lille (2001) and Nantes (2002) and now they were finally set to grace the fabled Stade de Gerland in Lyon.

Context

United had qualified for the Champions League courtesy of a third place finish in the 2003-04 Premier League season and they then had to come through a qualifying round tie against Romanian champions Dinamo București in order to reach the group phase. They won the first leg 2-1 away in Bucharest and wrapped the tie up at Old Trafford a fortnight later with a 3-0 victory to make it a comfortable 5-1 on aggregate.

Lyon had won their third consecutive Ligue 1 title in May, finishing three points clear of PSG, to represent France as champions once again. They were hoping to improve on the previous season’s showing in Europe’s premier club competition, when they reached the quarter-finals and lost 4-2 on aggregate to eventual winners FC Porto.

By that point, José Mourinho’s Porto had already dispatched Manchester United in the Round of 16. A 3-2 aggregate win was sealed with a 90th minute equaliser in the second leg at Old Trafford to make it 1-1 on the night and send United crashing out.

2004 Flashback – Sports
This fixture came hot on the heels of a busy summer of football. France and England met in Euro 2004 in Portugal, with the French running out 2-1 winners. Eight Manchester United¹ and three Lyon players² had been involved in that tournament, with Cristiano Ronaldo making it all the way to the final for the hosts, who surprisingly lost to Greece.

The summer Olympic Games took place in Athens in August and whilst neither France nor Great Britain were involved in the football tournament, two Manchester United players did take part. There was no rest for Ronaldo, as he was again called up by Portugal whilst his club mate Gabriel Heinze took home a gold medal with Argentina. The 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the final came just eighteen days before this Champions League group stage tie.

Elsewhere, Gastón Gaudio won the French Open, Roger Federer won the second of his eight Wimbledon titles and cyclist Lance Armstrong ‘won’ the sixth of his seven consecutive Tours de France.

The Form Book

Lyon had made an unbeaten start to the season, beginning with a 1-1 draw against PSG in the Trophée des Champions at the end of July. They won 7-6 on penalties to lift the French equivalent of the Community Shield. Their opening five Ligue 1 fixtures brought three wins and two draws. They warmed up for the visit of Manchester United with a 2-1 victory away at Rennes on the 11th of September. A late brace off the bench from Brazilian striker Nilmar secured the win.

As FA Cup holders, United began their season with a Community Shield clash against champions Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They lost 3-1 to Arsène Wenger’s ‘invincibles’. United were also five matches into their league season by the time they travelled to Lyon, but they had started in indifferent form, with an opening day defeat at Chelsea followed by a win over Norwich and then three consecutive draws. They were held 2-2 at Bolton prior to their trip to France.

The Draw
The 2004-05 Champions League Group Stage draw took place on the 26th of August 2004 in the Salle des Princes at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Michel Platini was charged with pulling the teams out of the pots. As 5th seeds, Manchester United were in pot one, and Lyon, as 14th seeds, were in pot two. They were joined by Sparta Prague from pot three and Fenerbahçe from pot four. The latter pair met in Istanbul on matchday one where Fenerbahçe won 1-0 thanks to a Pierre Van Hooijdonk strike to set the early pace in the group.

Team News

Lyon adopted a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond in midfield. Manager Paul Le Guen made three changes to the team that had beaten Rennes, with Juninho, Sylvain Wiltord and Anthony Réveillère coming in for Hatem Ben Arfa, Jérémy Clément and Lamine Diatta respectively. The only major absentee was Brazilian striker Giovane Elber, who had dislocated his ankle and fractured a fibula in the match against Metz three weeks earlier. The injury would ultimately end his Lyon career.

United lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and there were three changes to the starting XI from their visit to Bolton at the weekend. John O’Shea came in for Phil Neville, Eric Djemba Djemba replaced Kléberson in midfield and Cristiano Ronaldo took the place of Alan Smith in attack. Gary Neville and Louis Saha missed out, having both picked up knee injuries whilst away in international duty the previous week. Ole Gunnar Solskjær had just undergone extensive knee surgery that caused him to miss the entirety of the 2004-05 season.

This was the last match of an eight-month suspension for Rio Ferdinand. The Manchester United and England centre-back had failed to attend a scheduled drug test on the 23rd of September 2003 and the FA subsequently banned him from football from the 12th of January to the 20th of September 2004. He would finally return to first team action in a 2-1 win against Liverpool on the Monday evening following the trip to Lyon.

Also absent was new signing Wayne Rooney. The 18-year-old striker had been signed from Everton just sixteen days earlier, but was still recovering from the injury that saw him limp out of the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal. He would make his debut in the second Champions League group fixture against Fenerbahçe a fortnight later and score a spectacular hat-trick.

2004 Flashback – Politics
Anglo-French relations were at a high point, with Queen Elizabeth II having made a state visit to France in April 2004 to mark the centennial of the Entente Cordiale. Domestically it was a period of political stability on both sides of the Channel. Jacques Chirac was nine years into his twelve-year reign as President of France and Tony Blair was seven years into his ten-year stint as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, Blair’s popularity was on the wane due to his controversial decision to embroil Britain in the Second Gulf War against Iraq as part of George W Bush’s “coalition of the willing“.

Match Report

It was a game of two halves at the Stade de Gerland with Lyon, roared on by a passionate crowd of around 40,000, dominating the first period and going into the interval with a well-deserved two-goal lead. However, United produced a rousing fight-back an the second half and drew level thanks to a brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy. In the process, the Dutch striker broke Denis Law’s long-standing record of 29 European goals for United.

United did have a couple of early half-chances when Cameroonian midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba volleyed over the bar and Welsh winger Ryan Giggs fired wide, Thereafter, the Lyon pressure began to mount and they came close to opening the scoring when Brazilian centre-back Cláudio Caçapa rose to head a corner narrowly wide. Moments later, an error by United’s French defender Mikaël Silvestre let his compatriot Florent Malouda in for a one-on-one with Tim Howard in the United goal, but the American ‘keeper was able to repel his effort.

Just after the half-hour mark, another Lyon corner brought another big chance. This time it was Pierre-Alain Frau who sent a header towards the near post where Paul Scholes was cannily positioned to head off the line. United’s reprieve didn’t last for long, however. In Brazilian midfielder Juninho, Lyon possess one of the world’s foremost dead ball specialists, so the home crowd rose in anticipation when they were awarded a free-kick within shooting range in the 35th minute.

Some thirty yards out from goal and wide on the right, it shouldn’t have presented much trouble for Howard, but Juninho’s low shot was too hot to handle and the American fumbled it into the path of Cris, who scrambled home from close range. Lyon continued to pile on the pressure after the opening goal and soon had a penalty shout when another Juninho free-kick hit Scholes on the elbow but German referee Wolfgang Stark refused to entertain any appeals from the hosts.

On the stroke of half-time, Lyon doubled their advantage when former Arsenal striker Sylvain Wiltord made a powerful run from deep to feed Frau, who cut in from the right and dinked the ball over Howard and into the far corner with a deft flick of the outside of his right foot. The break in play couldn’t come soon enough for a United side who were on the rocks, with Lyon fully deserving of their two-goal lead.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson worked his magic during the interval to reinvigorate his players and they began the second half a changed team. Cristiano Ronaldo, hitherto anonymous, started to exert his influence on the game and it was from his cross on the byline, in the 56th minute, that van Nistelrooy leapt above his markers to head home past the despairing dive of Grégory Coupet in the Lyon goal.

Suddenly United were in the ascendency and just four minutes later they were level. Ronaldo was again involved and his attempted shot from the edge of the box broke kindly for van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman, one-on-one with Coupet, needed no further invitation to poke the ball past him and into the net. All Lyon’s hard work had been undone in the space of a few minutes and now they were the ones on the ropes.

Manager Paul Le Guen responded by introducing the fresh legs of Nilmar up front to replace Frau. The change had the desired effect and suddenly Lyon began to threaten the United goal again. Sylvain Wiltord was denied by Paul Scholes, making his second goal line clearance of the game. Hatem Ben Arfa was thrown on to join the onslaught in place of Govou as Lyon chased a winner.

It very nearly came just moments later when Nilmar was presented with an open goal, but somehow volleyed wide from point-blank range. Sir Alex Ferguson decided it was time to shuffle his pack and called Alan Smith off the bench to replace van Nistelrooy, shortly followed by Phil Neville on for John O’Shea.

The intensity dropped as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, with both teams seemingly content to settle for a point. Le Guen brought on an extra midfielder, Jérémy Clément, to replace Wiltord and the match officials signalled two minutes of stoppage time. Lyon almost snatched a dramatic late winner right at the death when Juninho fired in a shot from 25 yards, but his effort shaved the outside of Tim Howard’s post and it finished all square.

Cultural Context
Top of the UK singles chart when United arrived in Lyon was a double A-side of My Place / Flap Your Wings by American rapper Nelly. At the cinemas people were watching Shrek 2 and the third Harry Potter film. On public transport, everyone was reading Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The new Premier League season in England heralded the launch of a brand new Sunday evening highlights show on BBC Two called Match of the Day 2.

Significance

United and Lyon were the favourites to qualify from Group D, so the draw was an acceptable result for both parties, although it left them trailing Fenerbahçe by two points after the first round of fixtures. They both went on to win on matchday 2 and move into the top two spots, where they stayed for the remainder of the group stage.

The return match at Old Trafford in November saw Manchester United win 2-1 to leapfrog Lyon into first place, but the positions flipped back on the final matchday a fortnight later when United lost in Turkey and Lyon thrashed Sparta Prague. Lyon topped the group with 13 points, two clear of United on 11.

The knockout phase proved to be a disappointment for United. They were beaten 1-0 home and away by eventual losing finalists AC Milan in the Round of 16. Lyon thrashed Werder Bremen 10-2 on aggregate but went out on penalties to PSV Eindhoven in the Quarter-Finals after a pair of 1-1 draws.

The Protagonists

The Manchester United team that Sir Alex Ferguson brought to Lyon in September 2004 was not one of his finest vintages. It blended a handful of genuine club legends with some of the more forgettable United players of the era.

In the former camp were 1998-99 Treble winners Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Wes Brown. Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was well on his way to joining them as a bona-fide club legend thanks to the goals that had helped fire United to a Premier League title (2002-03) and the FA Cup in 2004.

Nineteen year old Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo was only in his second season at United, but had already become a fan favourite and would go on to become one of the all-time greats. Irish defender John O’Shea had a much less glamourous career, but became a club stalwart, winning a multitude of honours during a 12-year stay at Old Trafford.

French defender Mikaël Silvestre was another dedicated club servant, making over 350 appearances for United during a 9-year stint in which he won every major honour.

All bar two of the above players went on to be involved in Manchester United’s Champions League final victory over Chelsea in 2008. The exceptions being Roy Keane, who was in his last full season for United and left in November 2005, and van Nistelrooy, who moved to Real Madrid in summer 2006.

Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze was a new signing costing £6.9 million from Paris-Saint Germain in June 2004 and this was just his second appearance for United. He stayed for three seasons, the second of which was all but obliterated by injury, but did contribute to the Premier League title win in 2006-07 before moving to Real Madrid.

USA international goalkeeper Tim Howard had joined United at the beginning of the previous season and was first choice between the sticks for the 2003-04 campaign. However, this trip to Lyon ultimately proved to be the beginning of the end of his time at the club. He was dropped following his mistake that led to Lyon’s opener and he never permanently regained his place in the team. Howard moved to Everton on loan in 2006 before £3 million transfer to the Toffees a year later.

Cameroon international midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba is perhaps the least well-remembered player from United’s starting XI in Lyon that night. He departed four months later, moving to Aston Villa in January 2005, having spent just eighteen months at Old Trafford, making 39 appearances.

Substitute Alan Smith was a £7 million summer signing from relegated Leeds United. He enjoyed a reasonably successful first season with the Red Devils before the goals dried up and injuries restricted his playing time. He moved on to Newcastle United after three seasons. The other late substitute, Phil Neville, was in the final of his eleven seasons in the first team squad at United, for whom he made almost 400 appearances and won multiple trophies. He moved on to Everton in August 2005.

The Olympique Lyonnais team was one of the strongest in the club’s history, They were mid-way through their record-breaking run of seven consecutive league titles and many of the starting line-up can be considered all-time greats of the club.

Goalkeeper Grégory Coupet was there for all seven of those title wins and has a claim to be the best ‘keeper in the club’s history. His reliability provided a solid platform for the club’s success during their glory years.

Likewise, the back-four of Abidal, Caçapa, Cris and Réveillère can be considered one of the strongest defensive units ever to line up for Lyon. Abidal, a summer signing from Lille, and his French international colleague Réveillère were dependable defenders who offered a lot going forward, whilst the Brazilian centre-back pairing of Caçapa and Cris (a summer signing from Cruzeiro) formed a physically imposing barrier to opposition forwards. Cris also posed a regular aerial threat from set pieces.

Ghana’s Michael Essien was the defensive lynchpin of the midfield and is another contender for Lyon’s all-time greatest XI, although he only stayed for two seasons at the club and would move to Chelsea at the end of this campaign. He played alongside Brazilian legend Juninho, who is indubitably Lyon’s greatest ever player. The free-kick specialist is another who won all seven titles and consistently lifted the team to a higher level.

Florent Malouda, another French international, was a potent attacking threat thanks to his pace and tricky dribbling. He formed a formidable partnership with Abidal on the left flank. Sylvain Wiltord had arrived from Arsenal in the summer for the first of three seasons with Lyon and he lined up on the right side of attack, bringing with him a wealth of international experience.

Centre-forward Pierre-Alain Frau was another recent signing in the starting XI. He had arrived for €8.5 million from Sochaux in the summer and was easily the most unheralded player in the team and the only one never to gain an international cap. He wasn’t particularly prolific at Lyon and only stayed at the club for eighteen months.

Frau’s strike partner was home-grown star Sidney Govou, another club legend and the third player in the triumvirate of seven-time title winners. He takes the number of France internationals who started for Lyon that evening up to six in total, alongside three Brazilian internationals and a Ghana international.

Substitute Nilmar was a summer arrival from Internacional. The 20-year-old Brazilian striker came with a huge reputation and had only made his Lyon debut four days earlier as a late substitute against Rennes. He had scored a brace within minutes of coming off the bench, but struggled to consistently reproduce that form during the remainder of his single season at the club.

Seventeen-year-old prodigy Hatem Ben Arfa was another who had only recently made his debut. A tricky left-winger, he had been promoted from the club’s academy and would develop into a key player for Lyon before moving to Marseille in 2008. Midfielder Jérémy Clément was another youth product who had made his debut towards the end of the previous season and was starting to get regular game time. He stayed at Lyon until 2006, when he moved to join Paul Le Guen at Rangers.

Line-Ups

Goals: Cris (35′), Frau 45′), van Nistelrooy (56′), van Nistelrooy (60′).
Cards: Yellow: Heinze (7′), Cris (64′). Red: none.
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)

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Footnotes

1. Ronaldo, G. Neville, Scholes, Butt, P. Neville, Saha, Silvestre, Van Nistelrooy ↩︎
2. Müller, Coupet, Govou ↩︎