“That evening, Benzema emerged as leader”: Ibrox Park, a sweet-intense memory for OL in the Champions League

It was almost 17 years ago. On December 12, 2007, Alain Perrin’s Olympique Lyonnais traveled to Glasgow for the last day of the group stage of the Champions League. The story is simple: OL, 3rd in Group E behind Rangers with the same number of points (7), must win to qualify. It’s a final, nothing more, nothing less, for the Lyon of Juninho, Sidney Govou and… Karim Benzema, we’ll come back to that.

If OL, who remain on six titles in a row in Ligue 1 and are preparing to achieve a final championship – Coupe de France double, are here, it is because they started their campaign with slaps in Barcelona ( 3-0) and at home against these same Rangers (0-3). Two victories against Stuttgart and a draw against Barça, with Juninho’s famous tight angle free kick at Gerland, put him back in the race.

“We wanted to take revenge a bit for the first leg, because we were very upset at the time,” remembers Rémy Vercoutre, holder in the absence of Grégory Coupet, injured in a knee. “At the time, we were a bit like the PSG of todaycontinues François Clerc, also starting on the right of the defense that evening. There had still been runs in the European Cup. We were teasing the big teams and there were a lot of expectations.”

But the expectations, the statuses, the predictions, are no longer worth much when it comes time to set foot on the lawn of the legendary Ibrox Park and its overheated atmosphere. “The locker room is very special to Rangersdescribes Vercoutre. It’s very small, it’s made of wood, it breathes the past and the experience. We played in a pretty incredible, electric atmosphere. It was crowded, it was hot everywhere. When we entered the pitch, we weren’t being smart.” “After the music from the Champions League, when we got on the pitch, we couldn’t hear each other talking.” continues Clerc.

The fact remains that Lyon at the time was filled with great confidence, regardless of the stadiums or the scenarios. Carried, too, by a large majority of internationals, and by a good dose of talent. “Honestly, we were ready for a fight, we were ready for a fight, continues the current coach of the Lyon goalkeepers. We knew that if we held out at the athletic level, at the physical level, we were going to have collective possibilities, certainly, but that our individualities were going to shine. That night it was.”

Sidney Govou had a big opportunity from the start, then opened the scoring at the end of the quarter hour, with a cross from Karim Benzema pushed back full axis by the opposing goalkeeper Allan McGregor. The impacts are hard – Govou takes a big stamp from Alan Hutton – the suspense is total. Juninho hits the bar with a free kick for which he has the secret, Lyon suffers in sequences, Benzema gets a huge double opportunity to make the break. Then comes the turning point of the match: the unmissable opportunity from Jean-Claude Darcheville.

The former Bordeaux player, 216 Ligue 1 matches, cannot find the target five meters from the empty goal. “I remember it wellrembobine Clerc. Their captain was a good player, Barry Ferguson, he spilled out to the side and crossed in front of the goal. The ball passes between me and the goal line, and I turn around, I tackle, and I think there is another player with me who is tackling at the same time (Anthony Réveillère, who had replaced Sidney Govou, editor’s note ), to try to embarrass him. I think we may have embarrassed him a little at that moment, and he arrives launched, he puts the flat of his foot, and he puts her on top. It’s true that it was hot.”

“I still don’t know how he managed to miss itinsists Vercoutre. Because it is very close to the line. I mean, he’s scored some fantastic goals, ‘Darche’, in his life. Goals more complicated than that.” He will not recover and will leave 20 minutes after his entry, excluded for a gross foul on Kim Kallstrom (91st). In the meantime, his frustration inevitably increased tenfold in the face of the insolence of a 19-year-old kid, who killed the match alone, like a grown-up.

Served by Grosso, the Lyon nugget made the break by sliding the ball between McGregor’s legs. Then he puts an end to the suspense at the end of a rush concluded with a clinical strike. The future Madrilenian has already made a name for himself in Ligue 1, and has already scored in C1. But here it is definitively revealed to the eyes of Europe.

“We knew it, but it’s true that it was a bit of his media advent in the European Cup,” Clerc continues. “Karim was above the rest, continues Vercoutre. That evening, he reached a milestone. Because he poses as a team leader, as the boss of the attack. And he said, there you go, lean on me, I’ll take you to eighth grade, that’s it.”

He will even be close to taking his favorite club to the quarterfinals, with a goal against Manchester United also remembered, but ultimately insufficient. “We were strong in Europe…” concludes Vercoutre. Another era: Lyon, which will return to Ibrox Park on Thursday in the Europa League, has not played in the Champions League for four years.