Holders Lyon fail to find women's Champions League form

TURIN, Italy, Oct 28 (AFP): Lyon, the women's Champions League title holders, face an increasingly tough battle to reach the quarter-finals after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Juventus on Thursday.

The eight-time winners of the competition desperately needed to bounce back after they were thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal at home in their opening game last week.

They made a good start when Wendie Renard seized on a poor clearance by her France Pauline Peyraud-Magnin in the Juve goal and fed US international Lindsay Horan to net in the 23rd minute.

But the Italians equalised in the second half in Turin when Lyon defender Melvine Malard turned Barbara Bonansea's cross into her own net.

In more bad news for Lyon, their Netherlands midfielder Damarris Egurrola suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in a challenge with Juventus player Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir, who used to play for the French side.