Maksimir memories for Hugo ahead of Dinamo Zagreb second leg

Memories will no doubt stir for Hugo Lloris when he steps out at Dinamo Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium this evening.

Hugo has just about seen it all in 16 years in football, from lifting the World Cup in 2018 to those incredible Champions League nights against Manchester City and Ajax in 2019, and everything between his debut for Nice in 2005 and reaching 100 clean sheets for us in the Premier League only last month.

But one night tops the lot, and it came against tonight’s opponents.

It was Wednesday, 7 December, 2011. Hugo’s team, Olympique Lyonnais, were on the brink in the Champions League. In a group with Real Madrid, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb, Lyon had five points after five games, having lost both back-to-back matchdays three and four by an aggregate of 6-0 to Madrid. Their final match was against Dinamo at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb. Ajax, including Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen, faced Madrid in Amsterdam. Lyon needed a win and a seven-goal turnaround to climb above the Dutch side, who would go through regardless if they picked up a positive result against a Madrid side managed by... Jose Mourinho.

It was all going well in Amsterdam for Lyon, but not so well in their own game in Zagreb. The Croatians were down to 10 men - Jerko Leko sent off – but as half-time approached, Lyon were 1-0 down, Mateo Kovačić putting the hosts ahead on 40 minutes.

Bafétimbi Gomis levelled just before the break, and that sparked one of the most incredible Champions League results of all-time. Lyon reeled off six goals without reply in the second half, Gomis completed his hat-trick and ended up with four goals as the French team ran out 7-1 winners. The job was pretty much done when Jimmy Briand scored number seven on 75 minutes, and the icing on the cake followed when Jose Callejon hit Madrid’s third in Amsterdam. It was a nine-goal swing on the night and with the same number of points and head-to-head matches level (both games ended 0-0) Lyon went through thanks to a plus-two goal difference, to Ajax’s zero.

“It was something unreal, something you could not do again, something surely you wouldn’t see again,” reflected Hugo. “In the group stage, we played Real Madrid, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb. The last game was away in Zagreb, and we had to win by six goals to go through and at the same time, we had to see Ajax lose against Real Madrid. To win by that many goals, away, in the Champions League, is something you don’t expect to see. And we were 1-0 down! It was incredible, just incredible.”

As for tonight's second leg of our round of 16 tie against the Croatians, with us leading 2-0 from last week's first leg, Hugo added: “We could feel on the pitch that they came to get a result, and they will give all their power, all the force in the return. Believe me, it will be tough. Croatia is always difficult. The clean sheet is the key point, and our result puts us in a good position.”