Lyon 0-0 FC Barcelona: 5 Talking Points
Lyon's unbeaten run in this year's Champions League has continued, after the French outfit held La Liga champions Barcelona to a credible goalless draw during an enthralling encounter at the Groupama Stadium.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was forced into making a number of excellent saves, particularly from Houssem Aouar and Morgan Terrier, with the latter's shot spectacularly tipped onto the crossbar by the German goalkeeper.
Despite creating plenty of promising opportunities, Barca failed to make the most of them. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Ousmane Dembele all squandered chances, whilst some last-ditch defending by Leo Dubois and Jason Denayer saved Lyon's blushes as well.
Lyon had key man Nabil Fekir watching on in the stands, with the World Cup winner serving his suspension. Although they didn't score, there were some impressive displays, particularly from midfield duo Tanguy Ndombele and Aouar, both of whom have been linked with moves to Europe's best clubs in recent months.
With three weeks until the return leg in Spain and a positive result for Lyon to take with them with no away goals conceded, let's take a look at five talking points from an intriguing encounter:
#5 Lyon's Fekir-shaped creative hole missed
Nabil Fekir's absence was always going to be felt by the hosts, considering his importance to Lyon's attacking capabilities. After all, he has netted 11 goals and created five more across all competitions this term to date.
However, his suspension provided an opportunity for Memphis Depay to display his versatility in the number ten role - while offering Moussa Dembele a chance to star as their lone striker.
Fekir has just over a year left on his existing deal and with speculation linking him with a big-money move, this was a test of Lyon's adaptability. They collectively passed the test and created some good chances, but also saw other promising moves break down in their tracks.
That was ultimately down to Memphis, who disappointed, while Dembele was regularly left isolated and didn't utilize the ball well when it came to him. The pair were dispossessed on 12 occasions over the 90 minutes, which frankly isn't good enough against a Barca side that can counter to devastating effect.
Thankfully for the hosts, they ultimately didn't. But this is the type of opposition Depay and Dembele must be excelling against, given their public aspirations to be mixing amongst Europe's best in recent seasons. Fekir would have offered them more, that's for sure.
Also see : Women's World Cup 2019, Womens World Cup Schedule, Womens World Cup Standings