Zenit St.Petersburg vs Lyonnais - Hubert Fournier wants to see improved Lyon display in Europe

Posted Monday, October 19, 2015 by PA

Lyon coach Hubert Fournier goes into Tuesday's game at Zenit St Petersburg fearing his team's Champions League campaign will come to an early end if the players do not start to show more freedom on the pitch.

The French side have taken one point from their opening two Group H games and are third in the standings heading into the encounter at the Petrovskiy stadium in Russia.

Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw by nine-man Gent in their pool opener before falling 1-0 at home to Valencia in the last round.

Les Gones have struggled in front of goal this season including in Friday's 1-1 draw at Monaco, where Rafael's late equaliser earned a valuable point to leave them sixth in the Ligue 1 standings, 10 points adrift of league leaders Paris St Germain.

"It's obvious that it's hard for us to score these days," Fournier said to Ligue.com.

"(At Monaco) there were glimpses of good football by half-time. We reacted well in the second half and this is positive. We even had the chances to win.

"There were individual and collective shortcomings, though. I hope we will be better by Tuesday.

"We need to play more freely if we want to continue our Champions League dream."

Zenit are looking for their third straight win in Europe's elite club competition after beating Valencia 3-2 in Spain and Gent 2-1 in Russia.

"If we manage to win this game, we will have a very good position in the group," Zenit coach Andre Villas-Boas said.

"While it is difficult to talk about the prospects ahead of the next four matches, we are waiting for the Lyon game, after which it would be great to have nine points.

"I do not think this is impossible and we will try."

Zenit go into the encounter on the back of Saturday's 2-2 draw at Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League, a result that left them third in the standings.

The hosts will be without midfielder Viktor Fayzulin, who is out with a knee injury.

Lyon are also not at full strength. They have lost forward Aldo Kalulu for two months due to an ankle injury he suffered on Friday, joining Bakari Kone, Clement Grenier and Nabil Fekir on the sidelines.

Lyon will have to keep a close eye on Brazilian forward Hulk, who has scored two goals and set up two more in Zenit's opening two wins.