Villarreal bid farewell to the competition after falling to Olympique de Lyon (0-1)
No comeback. Villarreal went in search of the win with everything they had, but it was not enough. Thus, the Yellow Submarine are eliminated from the UEFA Europa League in the Round of 32 by Olympique de Lyon. The French side clinched the victory at the Estadio de la Cerámica thanks to Traoré’s only goal of the game. The Yellows needed to comeback from a 3-1 deficit from the first leg to qualify for the next round.
Javi Calleja opted for the experience of Bonera in defence and Javi Fuego in midfield to pull off the comeback. The Yellows went all out to open the scoring and turn the tie around and came close to doing so on a few occasions before the break.
The first was when Mario broke free down the right wing after some brilliant individual play. The Villarreal captain got to the byline and pulled the ball back to Manu Trigueros, whose first time shot was on course for goal but deflected off a Lyon defender and went out for a corner (m. 27).
Villarreal were focused on the task at hand. Tight marking on the likes of Fekir, Traoré, Mariano and Depay was paying off. The French side’s pace and skill up top were contained by the Yellows’ reliability at the back.
The Submarine came close again in the 39th minute. Enes Ünal beat a couple of Lyon defenders in the box and hit a powerful strike, but his effort was too straight and was met with the fists of the Lyon goalkeeper.
In the second half, Villarreal kept trying to break the deadlock but with no luck. Olympique de Lyon were solid and seemingly unbreakable. Mario managed to get between the Lyon defenders and shoot at goal, but his effort went just wide. Olympique de Lyon were fierce on the counterattack though. On one occasion, Fekir dribbled the ball around Asenjo and his shot was kept out only by Bonera’s goalline clearance.
The Submarine’s hope was almost completely lost when Jaume Costa was sent off. The left back was shown red for protesting (m. 78). Then shortly after, in the 84th minute, Fekir set up Traoré who just had to pass the ball into an open net (0-1).
Villarreal CF’s next match is this Sunday against Getafe CF at the Estadio de la Cerámica (12pm CET).
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, Bonera, Álvaro, Jaume Costa; Rodrigo, Javi Fuego (Raba, m. 74), Trigueros (Cheryshev, m. 56), P. Fornals (S. Castillejo, m. 46); Bacca and Enes Ünal.
Olympique de Lyon: Lopes; Rafael, Marcelo, Morel, Mendy; Tousart, Ndombele (Aouar, m. 76), Fekir (Maolida, m. 87); Traoré, Mariano (Ferri, m. 81) and Depay.
Goal: 0-1. Min. 84: Traoré.
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA). Cautioned: Álvaro, Javi Fuego and S. Castillejo; Marcelo, Fekir, Depay and Ferri for Lyon. Sent off: Jaume Costa for Villarreal (m. 78).
Match Information: Match corresponding to the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 second leg played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of 17,028 spectators.
