Lyonnais vs Ajax Amsterdam - Lacazette back as Lyon eye Europa League comeback - 7M sport

Lyonnais vs Ajax Amsterdam - Lacazette back as Lyon eye Europa League comeback



Posted Thursday, May 11, 2017 by PA

Lyon coach Bruno Genesio believes the return of Alexandre Lacazette can help his side stage a miraculous recovery and book their place in the Europa League final.

Lacazette is set to return to his side's starting line-up against Ajax on Thursday as they attempt to overturn a 4-1 first-leg deficit.

The France striker played just 15 minutes of the the defeat in Amsterdam, but is expected to lead from the front in Lyon.

Genesio told reporters: "(The return of Lacazette) changes a lot. He is the leader of our attack, but he will not be doing it alone. We need to be strong as a group to qualify.

"From the end of the first leg, I wanted to keep the disappointment out of the mind, and stress the fact that it is only half-time.

"We have got to believe that the feat is possible, and we have to show what we are capable of.

"The first thing is to believe in ourselves, because we are at home and with the supporters behind us, we are able to score many goals here."

Ajax go into the game on a high having built on their first-leg triumph with an equally emphatic 4-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday.

The win saw them close to within a point of league leaders Feyenoord, who suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat at Excelsior on the same day.

And Ajax coach Peter Bosz will be taking nothing for granted on the trip to France with memories of his side's quarter-final clash with Schalke still fresh in the mind.

Ajax took a 2-0 lead into the second leg only to fall 3-2 behind on aggregate against the 10-man Bundesliga side, before two extra-time goals finally put them in the last four.

Bosz admitted: "We do not want to relive the same thing as Schalke in the quarter-finals - we want to play our own, high-pressing game.

"Our players will have to resist the pressure of the public, but this will be our 18th European match this season, and the group is starting to have experience."



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