For 15 minutes or so the farmers were making hay at Estadio Jose Alvalade, granted plenty of open field to harvest by their well-heeled opponents.
As they did in their stunning 3-1 quarter-final victory over Manchester City, Lyon made a mockery of the derisory labels attached to Ligue 1 as they repeatedly scooted past Bayern Munich s high wire high line.
Pep Guardiola s uncharacteristic caution against Lyon has been rightly castigated, but how that game might have looked had City just gone for it was illustrated by an uncomfortable opening for Hansi Flick s in-form Bundesliga champions.
For all the enviable attacking gifts of Bayern s wide defenders Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies, it was Lyon s more unheralded wing-backs Leo Dubois and Maxwel Cornet roving into space.
Cornet might have added to his quarter-final goal after Memphis Depay should have opened the scoring. Karl Toko Ekambi then hit the post. Were we really heading for an all-French final on Sunday? Were we ready to confront the imminent butter mountain of farmers league gags?
FARMERS LEAGUE
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe)
Handily for Bayern, Serge Gnabry answered both those questions with an emphatic no 60 seconds after Ekambi tested the base of Manuel Neuer s left post.
Paris Saint-Germain will contest their maiden Champions League final on Sunday, when Bayern go for their sixth title in Europe s top competition. When it comes to the crunch moments, such historical weight feels like it can propel a side when it has no logical right to do so.
Gnabry made a particularly literal contribution to this phenomenon in the 18th minute in Lisbon by turning into Arjen Robben – cutting in from the right wing, opposition shirts in scattered pursuit, and rifling home with his trusty left boot, just like Bayern s hero of 2013 and European title number five.
For his next impression, the Bavarians brilliant winger opted for a current team-mate as opposed to a former one. Robert Lewandowski inexplicably failed to add to his vast goal haul when he slid in at point-blank range to meet the ball with his backside. Gnabry was on hand to smuggle home and disprove the impression that Thomas Muller has a monopoly on such goals for Bayern.
If only Flick s back four were doing a similarly passable impersonation of a solid defence. When Lyon s weekend hero Moussa Dembele came on for Depay in the 58th minute he quickly wrought havoc – launching a move that concluded with Ekambi wilting under the whites of Neuer s eyes.
On Sunday, those chances will be falling to Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar – even if the latter s finishing in the Portuguese capital has been no cause for celebration up until this point.
15 – Robert Lewandowski has become only the second player to score 15+ goals in a single campaign after Cristiano Ronaldo (17 in 13-14, 16 in 15-16 15 in 17-18). Monsters.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Benjamin Pavard might return if passed match fit, allowing Kimmich to revert to a central midfield role and give a little more protection to the heart of defence, where Niklas Sule replaced Jerome Boateng at half-time and proved an at times plodding companion to David Alaba.
Lyon s great favour to their compatriots here was showing Bayern are far from infallible. On the other hand, the men from Munich have now won 20 in a row and are unbeaten in all competitions since December 7. The parade of talent following Sule from the bench – Kingsley Coman, Philippe Coutinho, Corentin Tolisso and Pavard – was frankly ludicrous.
Having seen Lewandowski head his 55th – that s fifty-fifth – goal of the season to crown a 3-0 win, Flick might just to let his flying machine soar and let PSG deal with it. Unleash Kimmich and Davies, let Leon Goretzka and Thiago purr from midfield and care not a jot what goes on behind them.
Had Lyon taken their early chances, we might have had a repeat of July s Coupe de la Ligue final, which finished 0-0 before PSG won on penalties.
It is impossible to see anything similar unfolding at Estadio da Luz on Sunday, with the cream of Europe s 2020 crop giving every indication we are in for a classic.
