Lyon vs Sparta Prague prediction 11.08.2026 | Champions League

Last season was the best for Lyon in recent years. They ended fourth in Ligue 1 and now have a good chance to return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2019/20 campaign. Last year, Lyon played in the Europa League, where they were excellent in the first phase but lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the 1/8 final.

Lyon have ambitions to return to the Champions League, but also to remain among the top four Ligue 1 teams, and anything less wouldn't satisfy the board or the fans. However, the recent form doesn't provide too much optimism, as Lyon lost three of the last four matches, including preseason.

Lyon's head coach, Paulo Fonseca, was dissatisfied with his team's performance in Prague. He commented, "For me, there's a lot of disappointment related to the result, but also and especially to the team's defensive performance. We didn't execute our game plan, particularly in the first half. Sparta created a lot of opportunities because we were struggling defensively."

Mads Bidstrup and Pavel Sulc are injured and will not play on Tuesday night. Also, Nicolas Tagliafico and Moussa Niakhate are questionable, and their status will get clearer closer to the kickoff.

Sparta Prague had a good 2026/27 season. They finished second in the domestic league, while in the Conference League, the team from the Czech capital reached the 1/8 final. Sparta Prague are probably again weaker than their biggest rival, Slavia, but Brian Priske's team hopes to return to the throne in the national league.

However, to reach their goals, Sparta Prague have to play better. In the first three rounds of the domestic league, Priske's team collected only three points. In the most recent game, they lost 2-0 on the road against Mlada Boleslav. Although the guests had 67% ball possession, they finished the match without any shots on target and have to do better to have any chances to fulfill their goals.

Sparta Prague struggled on Saturday against Mlada Boleslav, and the head coach Brian Priske was disappointed. He said, "The first half was below our level; in the second we looked better in some aspects, were dominant and had chances, but still we didn't score a single goal. Simply put: this is just not enough."

Sparta Prague have problems with missing players. They will be without Magnus Kofod Andersen, Jakub Martinec, Sivert Heggheim Mannsverk, Ondrej Penxa, Patrik Vydra, Peter Jensen Vindahl, and Emmanuel Uchenna. Also, Lukas Haraslin is questionable.