Lyon – Arsenal A true excitement. This Champions League semi-final second leg match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal, the title holder, is eagerly awaited by the city of Lyon, just like the first leg was at the Emirates Stadium. About 25,000 spectators are expected at Groupama Stadium on Saturday, May 2, 2026, while around 3,000 usually attend the French Championship matches of the Lyonnaises.
Anything but a detail for Olympique Lyonnais, who will need the support of their fans to turn the tide of this semi-final, after their loss in the first leg (2-1). “It’s very important to have many supporters behind us, pushing us a lot, to feel them rising. We saw it in the first match,” Lindsey Heaps said. “At the first leg, I think it did them a lot of good to give their best,” Kadidiatou Diani confirms.
The proximity of the Ligue 1 match Lyon – Rennes, scheduled for this Sunday (8:45 pm) and crucial for OL in the battle for qualification for the next Champions League, also allowed the sale of “two-match packs” combining the two events to attract as many people as possible to the stadium.
“Raise our level to bring in the crowd’s support” “At home, we won all our matches. We will have to raise our level to bring in the crowd’s support,” highlighted the Spanish coach Jonatan Giraldez. This is necessary to avoid reliving last year’s disappointment when the Lyonnaises were eliminated at the same stage of the competition by the London team, who were crowned against Barcelona. The Rhodaniennes had indeed won in England in the first leg before losing heavily 4-1 at home.
“This is not the same match, nor the same teams. The challenge is different as well,” warns the American midfielder, Lindsey Heaps. Plagued by defensive errors, Olympique Lyonnais left Emirates with regrets, even though, according to the Spanish coach Jonatan Giraldez, who did not wish to dwell on the two mistakes of his Chilean goalkeeper Christiane Endler, “Arsenal deserved the victory.”
This time, it’s up to the Lyonnaises to defy the odds by winning by two goals to qualify. A scenario that Giraldez’s players are familiar with: they have shown their ability to react several times this season. In the quarter-finals against the Germans from Wolfsburg, they won 4-0 in extra time on April 2nd in Lyon, after losing the first leg (1-0). Moreover, during the league phase, they managed to secure a draw (3-3) against Juventus after being led 3-0.
“We have the physical and mental capabilities to come back” “We know we have the physical and mental capabilities to come back. I believe in us a lot. It’s not over,” Kadidiatou Diani affirmed in an interview with the local newspaper Le Progrès this week.
For this return match, Giraldez will be without the French international Inès Benyahia and especially the Malawian forward Tabitha Chawinga (11 goals in the league this season, 3 in the UCL), already absent in the first leg. However, the coach will be able to count on the returns of Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay, both preserved in the first leg due to injury, although there is no guarantee that they will start.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, at 3:00 pm. Live on L’Équipe.
