Lyon are out of the Champions League after they lost their crunch Group H clash with Gent 2-1 as the Stade de Gerland hosted its final European encounter.
The Ligue 1 side, who were thumped 3-0 by Nice at the weekend, would have had a faint chance of a last-16 spot had they won and they got off to a great start when Jordan Ferri put them in front early on.
But Danijel Milicevic's first-half equaliser and Kalifa Coulibaly's stoppage-time winner left Les Gones bottom of the group and five points behind third-placed Valencia with just one game remaining.
Lyon, who were hoping to take advantage of Valencia losing 2-0 at Zenit earlier on, stormed out of the blocks and penned the Belgian side back with a series of early corners.
They came to nothing, but the tone was set and Ferri made sure Hubert Fournier's side had something to show for their endeavours in the seventh minute.
The France Under-21 international was the lucky recipient of Rachid Ghezzal's fine through ball, with the Algerian fixing his marker with a gaze before unleashing Ferri into the box with a blind pass. Ferri still had work to do and did well to free up his feet and smash home at the near post to register his first Champions League goal.
That sent the Stade de Gerland - which Lyon are leaving for a new home ahead of next season - rocking and it almost got even better for the hosts 12 minutes later but Gent keeper Matz Sels did well at full stretch to deny Alexandre Lacazette, who was looking to add the finishing touch after tricking his way through.
Reigning Belgian champions Gent grew into the contest as the half wore on and striker Milicevic, who also scored in the reverse fixture between these sides, levelled things up with a fine free-kick after 32 minutes.
The Swiss midfielder's exquisite curler from just outside the area was inch-perfect, rendering Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes' acrobatic dive pointless as it nestled just inside his left-hand post.
In a lacklustre second half Lyon continued to probe but found clear-cut chances hard to come by, with Sels' sizeable frame a constant source of frustration.
The hosts peppered the Gent goal, finishing the match with 19 shots and seven on target in total, but it was Gent who stole the victory as Coulibaly bundled home from a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Gent are now in pole position to clinch second place, with them one point ahead of Valencia, but they face leaders Zenit in their final Group H match as Los Che host Lyon.