The happiest defeat of my career – Lyon boss Garcia revels in Champions League progress

Rudi Garcia called Lyon s loss to Juventus  the happiest defeat of my career as his side earned a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Memphis Depay s early penalty ultimately earned an away-goals victory for Lyon, despite Cristiano Ronaldo s double in Turin meaning the last-16 tie ended 2-2.

Manchester City, who overcame Real Madrid in Friday s other fixture, await the Ligue 1 side in the last eight on August 15 in Lisbon, and the result left former Roma coach Garcia revelling in his team s success.

It s one of the most satisfying moments of my career and getting past Juventus really is an exploit,  Garcia told Sky Italia.

The penalty we conceded just before half-time hurt us, Juve hadn t been that dangerous until then and it gave them confidence.

1 have been eliminated by a French side in an European competition in a knockout stage for the first time in their history. Thud.

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)

Ronaldo then scored that real Champions League level goal, but we stayed calm and that was what I appreciated the most about my team. We didn t panic, we kept plugging away and everyone contributed to keeping the ball.

It was tough for Juve to do better without Paulo Dybala, but we proved that we have a strong defence, as we also held out Paris Saint-Germain for 120 minutes in the cup last week.

I know this stadium, I came here with Roma, so I know how tough it is to win here. Let s just say this is the happiest defeat of my career!

Garcia was not a universally accepted appointment at Lyon, with the Frenchman having coached rivals Marseille between 2016 and 2019.

He guided Lyon to a seventh-place finish in Ligue 1 in 2019-20, with France s top-flight ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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