Rangers’ Europa League rivals Lyon suffered a shock defeat in Ligue 1 on Wednesday as their rematch with the Gers draws nearer.
The French giants have cruised through EL Group A, downing Rangers 2-0 in their opening fixture before defeating both Sparta Prague and Brondby home and away.
Their comfortable victory at Ibrox was a third win out of three for their manager Peter Bosz over Steven Gerrard, following home and away triumphs with Bayer Leverkusen last year.
The Gers are building momentum under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst, though, and Lyon’s patchy domestic form proves that they aren’t untouchable.
OL sit tenth in the French top flight after suffering a shock defeat at home to Reims on Wednesday night, their third loss in their last five league matches.
The game took place behind closed doors as the hosts are being punished by the LFP for recent crowd trouble and the visitors took the lead in the 56th minute, with Wout Faes heading in from a corner.
Karl Toko Ekambi equalised ten minutes later with a sidefoot finish following a cross from Jerome Boateng, but after Lucas Paqueta missed a big chance for OL, Reims striker Hugo Ekitike won it in the 93rd minute following a mistake from keeper Anthony Lopes.
With the final standings already confirmed in Group A, it’s likely that both GvB and Bosz will make changes for next week’s fixture, but it’s clear that OL do have weaknesses to exploit and a win in France would secure the Gers more than £500k in prize money.
