Lyon travel to Istanbul without Tagliafico, Sulc or Merah for Champions playoff

Lyon head to Istanbul for the Champions League playoff (Tuesday, 21:00) missing three important players. According to L'Équipe, Paulo Fonseca has named 23 players for the trip, but leaves out Pavel Sulc, Khalis Merah and, as a late withdrawal, Nicolás Tagliafico.

The absence of Argentine left-back Tagliafico is particularly surprising: he trained with the squad on Monday morning and seemed set to travel, but has been ruled out of the final squad. Sulc and Merah were already known absentees before the journey.

Defensive reinforcements

The positive news for the Gones is the return of Mads Bidstrup, the Danish midfielder recovered from a knee injury. Fonseca can also count on his two latest defensive signings: Felix Bacher (Austrian centre-back) and Zachary Athekame (Swiss left-back), freshly arrived at the club and already registered in line with UEFA regulations for this decisive playoff.

Young players Noham Kamara and Steeve Kango miss out from the squad for this crucial showdown with a star-studded Fenerbahçe.