This was also the first time in nine years Lyon had to earn qualification to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League as they began from the playoff round, due to their third-place finish last season.

On 6 June 2009, it was announced by Lyon that fitness coach Robert Duverne had quit his position to focus full-time on the France national team, who were attempting to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

[4] Also during this summer window, a host of youth players who were either deemed surplus to requirements or looking to find some significant playing time departed the club.

Pierrick Valdivia, Ayan Si-Mohamed and Alexis Carra moved to Sedan, Stade Reims and Italian club Vicenza, respectively.

After almost two weeks of negotiations with Portuguese club Porto, Lyon reached an agreement on a transfer fee for the Argentine striker Lisandro López.

[14] On 29 July, Lyon, who admitted they needed at least one more striker, announced the signing of French international Bafétimbi Gomis from rivals Saint-Étienne, with the fee being approximately €13 million.

[27] In the Sevilla match, despite the debut of Lisandro López and boasting an almost full strength side, Lyon failed to get on the scoreboard losing 0–1 making the defeat their second straight loss in the preseason.

Lyon responded just seven minutes later with a goal from the converted defender Mathieu Bodmer, who equalized on a shot at the top of the box as a result of a great pass from Lisandro López.

Their newfound attack still drew no goals and heading into the injury time session, Lyon were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box.

Despite enduring a hostile crowd and constant pressure from Lens, Lyon and their defense stood tall with Govou and Kim Källström getting both goals in the seventh and 78th minute, respectively.

Lyon's first match of the 2010 winter season was highly anticipated by the media and supporters alike following the team's disastrous ending to 2009 portion of the campaign.

Despite maintaining consistency throughout the match, Lyon would suffer defeat and elimination from the competition following the conversion of a close-range header by South Korean Park Chu-young, following a cross, 13 minutes from time.

[39] In the ensuing draw, held the day after their victory, Lyon were paired with Lorient, whom they will contested on the road at the Stade du Moustoir mid-week on 26 January.

Despite having 86 minutes to either draw the match or win it, Lyon failed to get on the score-sheet despite capable chances from López, Bastos and Pjanić on several occasions and thus were eliminated from the competition for the ninth straight season.

In the opening leg, Lyon, at the onset, quickly forced a strong attacking pace into the game catching an unexpected Belgian side off guard.

Just 14 minutes into the second half, Anderlecht got their first goal from the Argentine Matías Suárez, who beat both Mathieu Bodmer and Hugo Lloris to the ball and eventually pushed it into the back of the net.

Just five minutes later, however, Lyon would regain their four-goal lead with Gomis scoring his second of the match following the Belgian goalkeeper Proto's mistake of leaving his net open by attempting to beat the Frenchman to a passing ball from Michel Bastos.

Six minutes later, Lisandro scored again, this time due to a great cross from Anthony Réveillère, who found the striker wide open inside the penalty box.

Minutes before halftime, Lisandro scored his first career hat trick for the club in just his fourth match with them, converting the goal following a turnover from the Anderlecht midfielder Jan Polák.

In the 33rd minute, Lyon's lone healthy centre back Cris suffered a concussion and was taken off the field before half-time, despite an attempt to continue playing.

Due to this, Lyon employed a more defensive style earlier in the second half, but eventually garnered enough confidence to get forward and in the 72nd minute, it paid off.

In the return leg, Lyon managed a 1–1 draw, primarily due to the efforts of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who performed admirably producing sharp stops from Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, and Andriy Voronin in the first half, then displaying stunning reflexes to deny the Brazilian Lucas midway through the second period.

Despite outshooting and holding 57% of the possession, Lyon failed to get on the score-sheet and conceded from the penalty spot after referee Olegário Benquerença ruled that Aly Cissokho had committed a foul on Marco Marchionni inside of the box.

The draw meant that former Lyon player Karim Benzema returned to the Stade de Gerland after leaving the club only six months prior.

Midway through the second half, Laurent Blanc's team rallied with the Brazilian Wendel drilling a shot on goal, which went by Hugo Lloris, but went directly off the post.

In the second leg in Bordeaux, Claude Puel opted for a more defensive formation starting Maxime Gonalons ahead of the attack-minded Miralem Pjanić.

The strategy was successful during the early stages but turned sour following an accurate shot from midfielder Alou Diarra, which again beat Lloris, but, for the second straight match, hit the post in the 43rd minute.

In the second half, Puel remained confident in defense opting to substitute out attacker and lone striker Bafétimbi Gomis in order to clog the midfield.

Though Bordeaux were successful in attaining a victory, the 3–2 aggregate scoreline was in Lyon's favor allowing the club to advance to their first-ever UEFA Champions League semi-final.

In the first match, played at the Allianz Arena, the clubs drew 1–1 with Martín Demichelis converting an own goal for Lyon and Zé Roberto equalising for Bayern early in the second half.