Olympique Lyonnais take on Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid – Round of 16 UEFA Champions League Preview
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Real-c38478 Madrid prepare take on Lyon in their first leg of the round of sixteen stage in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, let’s take a look at how both teams might line up for this crucial encounter at Stade de Gerland
on Tuesday, 22nd of February 2011.
Olympique Lyonnais
Claude Puel’s team has hit a rich vein of form lately. With a four goal win over the past weekend against AS Nancy-Lorraine, Lyon are not only firing on all cylinders but are also dangerous contenders for the Ligue 1 title. Last season, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130
surprised everyone in the UEFA Champions League as they marched into the semi-final stage of the competition. However, this time around such a feat looks improbable as they are scheduled to take on a resurgent, Jose Mourinho led, Real Madrid side.
Last season en route to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, Lyon defeated Real Madrid at the round of sixteen stage as the Los Blancos failed to secure a much needed win in the second leg of the two legged matchup at Santiago Bernabéu after losing
by a goal to nil at Stade de Gerland.
Nonetheless going into their latest encounter with Jose Mourinho’s team, Lyon have won two out of their last five competitive fixtures. In their last two fixtures, Lyon have scored eight goals and only conceded one. As http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 and company visit
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 on Tuesday night, Olympique Lyonnais’s defensive record will be put to its toughest test thus far in the 2010-2011 club football season.
Real Madrid
After their comfortable two goal win over Levante at Santiago Bernabéu, Los Blancos are aiming for ‘la decima’,
according to Jose Mourinho. Real Madrid currently trail Barcelona by a total of five points in the Spanish Primera Division thus realistically speaking, the UEFA Champions League is their only chance of winning some precious silverware this season.
Jose Mourinho has already established himself as a master of European football with UEFA Champions League wins while managing Porto and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan. Now it is Real Madrid’s turn to benefit from the Portuguese manager’s tactical genius.
Real Madrid qualified as the top ranked team from their group but last season’s disappointment in the UEFA Champions League will act as invaluable experience for the Galacticos. Out of their last five competitive fixtures, Real Madrid have won four and lost
only one. In their last two fixtures, Real have not even conceded a single goal thus Jose Mourinho’s men will be confident of achieving a favourable result at Stade de Gerland in the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen.
Team News
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 but the French giants will have to make do without their midfield playmaker for the first leg
of their UEFA Champions League round of sixteen encounter. Other than Ederson’s injury troubles, Claude Puel has a full squad available for selection.
Expected Lyon line up: Lloris, Cissokho, Cris, Diakhate, Réveillère, Toulalan, Gourcuff, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michel-Bastos-c25461, Pjanic, Briand, Lisandro Lopez
Real Madrid will travel to France without their injured Argentinean goal scoring machine, Gonzalo Higuain. Other than Higuain’s injury, Mourinho has a full squad to choose from as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Iker-Casillas-c16815 is set to return to action after missing out on Real’s latest
win over Levante over the weekend due to a red card suspension.
Expected Real Madrid line up: Iker Casillas, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Karim-Benzema-c20350
Key Players
Lyon will be banking on Johann Gourcuff to run the midfield show against Real Madrid. The Frenchman has been on top form for Les Gones ever since he joined the Claude Puel’s team in the summer of 2010 from Bordeaux. Gourcuff has been instrumental to Lyon’s
title charge in Ligue 1 but now it is time for the offensive midfielder to perform at the biggest stage of them all; the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo will carry the Real Madrid mantle in France and the Portuguese winger will be trying his utmost to fire Los Blancos in to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Ronaldo has a good scoring record against Lyon from his days as a
Manchester United player but Lyon are also quite aware of the former World Player of the Year’s match changing abilities. However, one can expect Ronaldo to be on the score sheet at Stade de Gerland.
Prediction
It is bound to be a tightly tested encounter but Real Madrid have some real firepower in their line up. That coupled with Jose Mourinho’s defensive tactics will allow them to get a favourable result in France. Prediction: 0-1 to Real Madrid.
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