Real Madrid beat Olympique Lyonnais 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 in 2010/11 but the previous year it was the French side who had the upper hand.
This time round, Real Madrid, the Spanish giants have maximum points having started with a 1-0 victory at GNK Dinamo Zagreb thanks to Ángel Di María’s 53rd-minute strike.
Two weeks later a potent attacking performance saw off the challenge of AFC Ajax, a 3-0 victory coming courtesy of goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Karim Benzema.
Lyon gained a goalless draw in Amsterdam against AFC Ajax before first-half goals from Bafétimbi Gomis and Bakary Koné at home to Dinamo earned Rémi Garde a first UEFA Champions League group stage victory as Lyon coach.
When the teams met earlier this year in Madrid, goals from Marcelo, Benzema and Di María gave the hosts an emphatic 3-0 second-leg victory after the first match had ended 1-1. In France Benzema, the former Lyon striker, gave his team the lead 60 seconds after coming on as a substitute, Gomis levelling seven minutes from time. The lineups at Santiago Bernabéu on 16 March 2011 were: Madrid: Casillas, Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Alonso, Khedira, Di María (Granero 78), Özil, Ronaldo (Adebayor 74), Benzema (L Diarra 84); Lyon: Lloris, Cris, Lovren, Réveillère, Cissokho, Källström, Toulalan, Gourcuff (Pied 69), Briand (Gomis 46), López, Delgado (Pjani? 80).
That game was the first time Madrid had got the better of Lyon, their three previous home games all ending in draws. When the teams met at the same stage 12 months previously, Jean Makoun gave the French side the edge after their home leg. A 1-1 draw in the return took Lyon through, Miralem Pjani? cancelling out Ronaldo’s early opener.
The sides also played in the group stage in 2005/06 and 2006/07, Lyon winning both home games and drawing twice in Spain.
Real Madrid ended a run of six successive last-16 eliminations when they reached last season’s semi-finals, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to FC Barcelona. In their 15 UEFA Champions League participations they have never failed to reach the knockout rounds.
Progress to the round of 16 last season maintained a pattern for Lyon who have made it through to the knockout stage in each of the past eight campaigns.