On this seismic night of Champions League football; French side Lyon produced one of the greatest upsets in history by beating power-packed Manchester City 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
He may be the greatest manager right now; but I do question Josep Guardiola's tactical acumen in this one. Why he decided to switch; in this game of all games; to a back-three of Eric Garcia; Fernandinho & Aymeric Laporte; we will never know. Yes - maybe he was trying to guard against the pacy Lyon strike duo of Karl Toko Ekambi & Memphis Depay - but surely as the stronger team; you've got to make them worry about you instead and impose your will on the match.
That weird-looking back three not surprisingly played a rather confused role in the contest; and it also meant City had only two central midfielders to combat the energetic Lyon trio of Bruno Guimaraes; Maxence Caqueret & Houssem Aouar - another tactical disaster. Worse still; the two midfielders are too defensive & similar in Rodrigo & Ilkay Gundogan; meaning they were short of creativity where they needed it most.
It also meant Kevin de Bruyne had to be played in a less-effective part of a front three; rather than in midfield where he could fully utilise his passing prowess. Surely either of the Silvas - Bernardo or David; or Riyad Mahrez or Phil Foden - should have been inserted into the fray instead. All of these meant a rather confused and convoluted showing from the Champions League powerhouses; leading to them unable to impose their fluent passing game to assert control of the match. And conversely leading Lyon to take control and become confident themselves; able to soak up the pressure and relying on the counter-attack for opportunities.
And on one of those occasions; a long ball caught the high-line City defence off-guard; leading to Maxwel Cornet squeezing in the tightest ot shots to stun City and give Lyon the lead. It was evident that once Guardiola reverted back to their tried-and-tested 4-3-3 formation in the second half; taking off Fernandinho for Mahrez; things began to change.
Suddenly; City were able to draw the Lyon defenders out and hit them between the lines; and that was precisely how City got their equaliser; with Raheem Sterling cutting back for de Bruyne to score. At that point; frankly it looked like City were going to go on and win it; but Rudi Garcia's famed substitutions did the trick.
He was not afraid to take off a subdued Depay for Moussa Dembele; and the former Fulham player did the damage; scoring the two crucial goals with great composure to stun the City faithful and take Lyon to a historic semi-finals. His other substitutions; sch as Thiago Mendes for a tiring Guimaraes; and even Jeff Reine-Adelaide for a flagging Toko Ekambi; which helped to create the third goal; were also spot-on.
In the end; we were treated to some unforgettable scenes: Marcelo so overjoyed at the final whistle he nearly hugged the referee; Lyon players hugging each other to the ground in playful delight; and Gabriel Jesus crying his eyes out in proper Gazza-fashion. It was that kind of a night.
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