Stade de GerlandGround: Stade de Gerland Visits: 1 Date: 21st February 2013 Match: Lyon- Tottenham 1-1 (UEFA Europa League) Attendance: 38 761
As in recent years I was free from work for a week in late February. Being a week with UEFA matches I was hoping to start my trip with an interesting Europa League match. When the draw for the round of 32 was made in December I decided for a weekend in France starting with Lyon vs Tottenham on Thursday evening. My journey to Lyon started on Wednesday afternoon when I left for Copenhagen airport and the flight taking me to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. From the airport there are direct trains for Lyon, actually the train only stopped once (in central Paris) before going straight to Lyon. Being one of those high-speed trains the journey, being close to 500 km, took exactly 2 hours. Impressive! Shortly before 10pm I was at my hotel where I could rest after a day of travelling.
Lyon vs Tottenham had a 7pm kick-off time and by 5pm I was yet again outside Stade de Gerland. My seat was in the top row of the Jean Bouin Stand. Unfortunately there was an overhang meaning a good view of the pitch but I could barely see the other stands from my seat. Taking pictures of the empty stands was of course not a problem but I realised I needed a better seat for the match. The first leg at White Hart Lane finished 2-1 to Spurs so this was a wide open tie. Tottenham brought 2 700 fans to Lyon for this match and they were two different stands. Most of them were in the corner of the South Stand and the rest were in the block next to me in the Jean Bouin Stand. In the end I ended up less than 10 m from the visiting supporters. I found an empty seat which was as close to the away section as you could get. The actual match was ok. Lyon started the best and made it 1-0 in the 17th minute. They then defended very well for the rest of the match. Tottenham had a few chances but I was certain Lyon was going to hold on to their lead. I was wrong, in the 90th minute Tottenham equalised and the Spurs fans to my left went bananas. To be honest the atmosphere so far had been ok, not bad but not good either. The last few minutes of this match was as good as it gets if you want to experience a good atmosphere at a football match though. A last minute winner/equalizer in an European match, what more could the Spurs fans ask for? As I left Stade de Gerland I could still hear the songs from the away sections. A great night of European football came to an end.
Cathedral Statue of Louis XIV
View of Lyon
View of Lyon
Spurs going top!
Rear of Tribune Jean Jaures
Rear of Virage sud
Rear of Tribune Jean Bouin
Rear of Virage Nord
Virage Sud
Tribune Jean Jaures
Virage Nord
Flags
Spurs fans
Riot police
Virage Sud
Lyon fans
View of play
Kick-off
Tribune Jean Jaures
1-0, Lyon
My view
Virage Nord
Lyon fans
Pano
Pano |