Fenerbahce stun Lyon and storm back into Champions League after 18 years away

For the Turkish club, it was a breakthrough a long time in the making. After failing in each of their previous 10 attempts to come through Champions League qualification, Fenerbahce finally got over the line, and they did it in one of the hardest ways possible, by going to France and winning.

The tie had been left perfectly balanced after a 1-1 draw in Istanbul, and the early stages in Lyon lived up to that tension immediately.

Match highlight

Lyon had the first real openings. Malick Fofana drove a powerful effort that Ederson pushed away, and then Tanner Tessmann saw a header take a touch off Milan Skriniar and drift narrowly wide. For a few minutes, it looked like the home side might seize control early.

But Fenerbahce were dangerous too. Their attacking intent stood in sharp contrast to some of their defensive chaos, and they quickly offered warnings of their own. Archie Brown was denied from close range by Dominik Greif, and then Oguz Aydin hit the crossbar from the resulting corner.

In the 25th minute, Fenerbahce took the lead. Brown's cross found Vedat Muriqi, and although the striker could not beat Greif with his first header, he reacted fastest to the rebound and forced the ball home.

And before Lyon had properly recovered, things got worse. Mason Greenwood delivered a corner to the far post, Brown rose highest and nodded in from close range to make it 2-0 on the night.

Lyon badly needed something before half-time and tried to respond, but their efforts never fully landed. Muriqi almost turned one into his own net when a header struck the post, and Tyler Morton forced another save from Ederson, but Fenerbahce reached the break in a dream position.

That refusal to retreat almost cost them at times, but it also showed why they deserved this. Lois Openda came close with a header from a Fofana cross for Lyon, while at the other end Aydin wasted a decent counter-attacking chance by firing over.

Fofana met Ainsley Maitland-Niles' lofted delivery with a superb volley into the far corner, and suddenly the game was alive again.

Lyon thought they had scored twice more, only for both efforts to be ruled out by VAR for offside. Even in the dying moments, there was one last chance for Kail Boudache, but he could not hit the target from inside the area.

Fenerbahce held on and finally secured the long-awaited return their supporters have craved for nearly 2 decades. They will now discover their 8 league-phase opponents tomorrow, while Lyon are left to process a painful exit and turn their attention toward the Europa League.