Olympique Lyon versus Real Madrid – UEFA Champions League: Player Ratings (Part 1)
After an interesting first leg of the UEFA Champions league Round-of-16 match between Real Madrid and Lyon at Stade de Gerland, both the teams will be relatively happy with the result of 1-1 at Lyon’s home ground. However, with the second leg looming large
at Santiago Bernabéu, Jose Mourinho’s men are in a slight advantage with an away goal. Nonetheless, let’s take a look at how players from both the teams performed on Tuesday, 22nd of February 2011.
Olympique Lyon
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Lloris-c16408
Lyon’s shot stopper was relatively solid throughout the night. He was seldom tested in the first half apart from a powerful shot by Angel Di Maria, which the Frenchman successfully palmed away from his penalty area. In the second half, Karim Benzema netted
Real’s only goal of the match but it was Lloris who was partially at fault for this goal as the ball slipped in between his own legs en route to the goal.
Rating: 7
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anthony-Réveillère-c6232
The French international right back was just impervious on the night as far as his defensive responsibilities were concerned. He managed to contain Cristiano Ronaldo’s threat for a long period in the match as the Portuguese winger seemed like a frustrated
individual at times. Apart from that, Réveillère lacked the desire to surge up field in support of his teammates which cost Lyon in the second half http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Real-c38478 Madrid scored after a sustained period of possession.
Rating: 7.5
Cris (Cristiano http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marques-c24297 Gomes)
Lyon’s talisman and captain on the night, the Brazilian defender gave a perfect performance. He was at his best in both the penalty areas at different occasions of the match. In the first half, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cris-c9486 restricted Adebayor’s movement and ambition on the ball.
In the second half, Lyon’s center back gave Benzema a tough time after the former Lyon striker had netted his only goal of the match. Cris also contributed with an assist towards Lyon’s equalizer on the night as he marched up field to win a crucial header
against Carvalho just before the ball dropped to Gomis, inside the Real Madrid penalty area.
Rating: 8
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dejan-Lovren-c10779
Cris’s partner in defense had a tough time after a relatively smooth first half when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Karim-Benzema-c20350 was introduced into the fray in the second half by Jose Mourinho. The Croatian center back found it hard to deal with Benzema’s intelligent movement which
contributed to Lovren’s mistake that led to Real Madrid’s away goal on the night. Other than that, the former Dynamo Zagreb defender was just average on the night and will be looked as a weak link by Jose Mourinho’s men when Lyon visit Santiago Bernabéu on
16th March, 2011. Rating: 6.5
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aly-Cissokho-c5313
Not only did Cissokho keep Angel Di Maria in his pocket throughout the night at Stade de Gerland, he also did remarkably well to support http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Ramos-c33096 a lot
to think about as the Spanish full back was pushed on the back foot time and again due to Cissokho’s offensive runs. The only weak point in Cissokho’s performance on the night was his delivery from a wide position. The former Porto defender was absolutely
abysmal with his delivery from the left wing for Lyon despite getting into good crossing positions throughout the night.
Rating: 8.5
In the second part of this series we will discuss the player-ratings for Lyon’s midfielders and forwards after paying attention to their contribution to the French league leader’s one all draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
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