France is euphoric this Sunday with Lyon's surprise qualification for the Champions League semi-finals, in an unprecedented scenario with two French teams in that phase of the competition, which the president, Emmanuel Macron, has not deprived of congratulating.
In a message on his Twitter account, Macron establishes with a humorous note a parallel between politics and football, noting that what is coming now in the semifinals is a Franco-German double duel, between Lyon and Leipzig, on the one hand, and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Bayern Munich, on the other.
“In Brussels as well as on the pitch, France and Germany are the engines of Europe. Chancellor Merkel will not reproach me for supporting Paris and Lyon on Tuesday and Wednesday …”, he writes ironically.
Lyon's triumph over Manchester City 3-1 is the main topic of current affairs in the media this Sunday, and how could it be otherwise, the newspaper L'Équipe dedicates its cover to the French formation with a headline that is a tribute to its players: “Fabulous!”.
See the summary of the classification of Lyon to the semifinals of the Champions
The sports newspaper emphasizes that, after having eliminated Juventus, the Lyonnais achieved on Saturday night “another great European feat” by leaving Manchester City by the wayside, with what that means having two French teams in the semifinals.
Moussa Dembélé takes all the superlatives, having scored the two goals that gave Lyon the victory after taking the field in the 75th minute as a substitute and becoming, in just a quarter of an hour, the best player of the match.
The newspaper Le Parisien also speaks of “a major feat” of Lyon that allows two French clubs to maintain their aspirations for the most precious title on the Old Continent.
For Le Parisien, however, the favorite is Bayern. But next to him, he indicates that PSG is a credible alternative to victory, and then there are the “two surprise guests” that are Lyon and Leipzig.
The radio station France Info does not cease to describe in its newsletters as “historic for French football” what Lyon has achieved and considers that this configuration of the Champions semi-finals also represents “a good revenge” for Ligue 1, so criticized for not having resumed the competition after confinement.