Hubris cost Lyon last week and it almost cost PSG too. “We thought we were too good,” admitted Ousmane Dembélé after PSG conceded three goals at Villa Park and were nearly knocked out of the Champions League. “We eased off a bit. We thought it was over but big matches are like that,” said Malick Fofana after Lyon’s spectacular three-goal collapse against Manchester United did cost them a place in the Europa League semi-finals. “It is a match I won’t forget,” added Fofana, who knows that Lyon – like PSG – will have to re-engage if their season is to end well.

With a derby at Saint-Étienne on Sunday, Lyon had no time for a postmortem. But for Paulo Fonseca, one thing was clear. “We led 4-2 with one less player on the pitch but we celebrated the 4-2 too much when the match was not finished,” said the Lyon manager after his team’s 5-4 defeat at Old Trafford. “We should have thought about continuing to manage the match. We lacked experience at this moment,” he added.

A lack of experience has always been a go-to for Ligue 1 managers when explaining failures on the European stage. PSG are the youngest team in this season’s Champions League, but the numbers didn’t quite stack up for Lyon. The 10 men that completed the game at Old Trafford had an average age of 26.6 years, compared to Manchester United’s 26.7. Three teenagers were still on the pitch at full-time; all of them played for Manchester United.

European experience, one could argue, is another thing entirely and Manchester United’s superiority there becomes clear. On average, United’s finishing XI...
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