5 Unexpected Champions League Semi-finalists in recent years

#3 Olympique Lyonnais (2009/10)

Lyon's squad consisted of a crop of future stars

The 2009/10 Olympique Lyon team had a great pool of young and emerging talent, which included the likes of Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Valbuena, Dejan Lovren, Alexandre Lacazette, Miralem Pjanic and many more.

They finished second in the league but had a memorable Champions League campaign, reaching the final four under the management of current Leicester City boss Claude Puel. They finished second in the group stages behind Fiorentina, earning a win and a draw against Liverpool to finish six points clear of the third-placed Reds.

This young Lyon squad faced a tall order of going up against the firepower of Real Madrid in the Round of 16, as the Los Blancos had acquired a wealth of star talent in the summer transfer window, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo.

But the big names did not faze the French club as they took advantage of Real's poor form and vulnerability beating them at home and getting a draw at the Bernebau to progress to the last eight. In the next round, they faced familiar foes, in the form of league rivals FC Bordeaux.

Lyon took the command of the tie in the first leg itself, beating their French counterparts 3-1 at home and in spite of losing the second leg they hung on to a 3-2 aggregate win. In the semi-finals, they were paired up against eventual Champions League runners-up Bayern Munich.

Having narrowly lost the first leg in Germany by a one-goal margin, Les Gones were trumped 3-0 at home, crashing out of the tournament 4-0 on aggregate. It was the end of a journey where a team of several young players played fearlessly and announced themselves to the world, not just competing with the world's best footballers but also winning against them.

Miralem Pjanic was the mainstay of Lyon's Champions League success, finishing top for his team with four goals and four assists respectively whereas a young 23 year old rising star Hugo Lloris kept five clean sheets.