Lyon vs Barcelona. UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
Stade des LumieresAttendance57,889.
Tuesday 19 February 2019 22:46, UK
Martin Terrier went closest as Lyon's fine performance earned a 0-0 draw with Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 first leg.
Barcelona had the majority of the chances but had Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank for keeping the scores level at half-time when he leapt to his right to deflect Terrier's 25-yard drive onto the bar.
Luis Suarez's Champions League duck continued as he missed a glorious chance to score from Jordi Alba's pull-back after half-time, and Lionel Messi missed two opportunities from free-kicks just outside the area.
Overall, the visitors could muster only five shots on target across the 90 minutes as Lyon claimed a clean sheet which could prove vital when they travel to the Nou Camp for the return leg next month.
Barcelona looked like they had laid down a marker when Houssem Aouar was booked for hauling down Messi just outside the box inside three minutes, but the Argentine's free-kick was unusually tame and floated well over.
But Lyon gave as good as they got before half-time and produced the two best chances of the half, first when Aouar's fizzing low effort was kept out by Ter Stegen's dive, before the goalkeeper produced true heroics to get fingertips to Terrier's dipping shot from 25 yards.
At the other end, Ousmane Dembele saw plenty of the ball but did little with it, apart from one moment of brilliance when he turned Leo Dubois inside and out before turning the ball onto his left foot and forced a smart save from Anthony Lopes.
After the break Barcelona ramped up the pressure, and enjoyed 70 per cent of possession while still doing little with it.
They should have taken the lead when Alba cut the ball back from the left to Suarez, but he was already slipping before his first-time shot whistled beyond the near post.
Lyon could manage only a single shot in the second 45 minutes but as the clock ticked towards full-time they began to settle for the stalemate, and produced a superb defensive performance to deny Barcelona an away goal.
The visitors' frustrations were summed up in added time when Messi was brought down by Ferland Mendy just outside the area, only to smack his free-kick into the wall before his effort from the rebound was also blocked, leaving the second leg of this tie, on March 13, very much in the balance.
Dubois had the unenviable job of dealing with first Ousmane Dembele and often Lionel Messi, with the forward drifting around the Lyon defence.
But he barely put a foot wrong all night, made five clearances and won the ball back six times on the night.