Champions League 2018/19: Top 5 results from Matchday 1

#2 Manchester City 1-2 Lyon

The biggest upset of matchday 1!

Manchester City welcomed Lyon at the Etihad desperate to better their Champions League record. Last season, City under Pep Guardiola won the Premier League with a record-breaking 100 points, yet were ousted from the Champions League by Premier League rivals Liverpool with a 5-1 aggregate loss.

City had lost both legs of the quarter-final and surrendered their Champions League aspirations for the season. As such, Guardiola, who has not been able to replicate his Champions League success story from Barcelona since leaving the club, was desperate to start the new season on the front foot. However, City were about to learn a hard lesson.

In the 26th minute of the game, Nabil Fekir set up Cornet to give Lyon the lead. Things got worse for City in the 43rd minute, when former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay rubbed further salt on city’s wounds by setting up Fekir to score Lyon’s second of the game. The first half ended with Lyon comfortably leading 2-0.

In the second half, Guardiola tried to shuffle his tactics by first introducing Leroy Sane in the 55th minute and then Aguero in the 63rd minute and his prayers were answered in the 67th minute when Sane set up Bernardo Silva to get a goal back. However, it was the closest that City could get all night.

Guardiola’s side had 70% possession and had attempted 712 passes with 89% accuracy. They had 22 shots, 8 of which were on target. Lyon, in contrast, had only attempted 316 passes with 75% accuracy and had registered 11 shots, with 4 of those on target. Yet, they had stuck gold where it mattered and had jeopardized Guardiola’s plans for the night.