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Monday, February 21, 2011

Real look to Mourinho magic to end Lyon jinx

Jose Mourinho ended Chelsea's half a century wait for an English title, he brought European Cup glory back to Inter Milan after 45 years and now he battles Olympique Lyon's mesmeric hold over mighty Real Madrid.

If there was ever a man to conquer a hoodoo it is the Portuguese coach but he has more than one jinx to deal with in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg in France.

Lyon have beaten Real at home three times in a row in the competition including last year where they condemned the Spaniards to their sixth successive last 16 elimination.

Overcoming Claude Puel's team and the mental block of quarterfinal progress will be no mean feat but Mourinho, as ever, oozes the confidence that prompted the nine-times winners to appoint him last May.

"No one keeps me awake, neither Lyon nor anyone else," the outspoken Mourinho told reporters after Saturday's comfortable 2-0 La Liga win at home to Levante where he rested several players.

"The night I don't sleep well is after the match. Ever since we drew Lyon we have been following them. (Real consultant Zinedine) Zidane knows them and has been giving me information."

On a personal note, Mourinho is bidding to become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs after stunning the European game with Porto's 2004 triumph and then taking just two seasons to mould a winning side at Inter.

May's victory in the final over Bayern Munich is still fresh in his memory but with the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and pumped-up striker Karim Benzema returning to face his former team, Mourinho's prospects look as good as with Inter last year.

mourinho 2

Bicycle kick

Lyon will not just have recent form against Real on their side at the Stade de Gerland.

Their domestic performances have shown a marked improvement of late with a 4-1 derby win at St Etienne and Friday's 4-0 home thumping of AS Nancy boding well.

"You can see that pressure makes us give the best of ourselves," Puel told reporters.

France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, bought from Girondins Bordeaux in August as a marquee signing, has finally found his verve after a slow start and Jimmy Briand's bicycle kick goal against Nancy was on a par with Wayne Rooney's recent effort.

The only worries for Lyon are goalkeeper Hugo Lloris's bad cold, although he is expected to return against Real, and striker Lisandro Lopez's hamstring problem which is likely to keep the Argentine out of the game.

"Lisandro is slightly injured, his participation against Real is in doubt." added Puel, who has had a series of run-ins with the forward.

Probable teams:

Olympique Lyon: 1-Hugo Lloris; 13-Anthony Reveillere, 3-Cris, 5-Dejan Lovren, 20-Aly Cissokho; 6-Kim Kallstrom, 28-Jeremy Toulalan, 29-Yoann Gourcuff; 11-Michel Bastos, 18-Bafetimbi Gomis, 7-Jimmy Briand

Real Madrid: 1-Iker Casillas; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 2-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Pepe, 4-Sergio Ramos; 14-Xabi Alonso, 24-Sami Khedira; 7-Cristiano Ronaldo, 23-Mesut Ozil, 22-Angel Di Maria; 9-Karim Benzema

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

Monday, September 6, 2010

France must wake up after "slap in the face"

France's Yann M'Vila (L) talks to team mate Adil Rami during their Euro 2012 qualifying soccer match against Belarus in Saint-Denis September 3, 2010

Photo: Reuters

France have no option but to fight back straight away after starting their Euro 2012 soccer qualifying campaign in humiliating fashion, defender Bacary Sagna said.

"Catastrophic", screamed a headline on the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday, a day after Les Bleus fell 1-0 to modest Belarus at Stade de France in new coach Laurent Blanc's first competitive game in charge.

"We took a slap in the face," Sagna told reporters after France looked toothless up front and naive at the back against relatively harmless opposition.

"It's a nuisance to start with a defeat, especially at home, but we must keep our heads held high and get back to work immediately," he added.

Blanc, who took over from Raymond Domenech after the World Cup fiasco and needs to rebuild the team, made it clear he expected an improvement by Tuesday, when France play their second Group D match against Bosnia in Sarajevo.

"We're in a difficult situation and we need to fight, which is exactly what we will do," Blanc, who relied on a young and largely untested team, told reporters.

Blanc knows, however, that he has a problem in that very few players on his list can score goals.

"You have to face the fact that the best two scorers in our team (against Belarus), Malouda and (Louis) Saha, had scored just four (international) goals," he said. "You can't say that we have players who know how to score goals."

Jeered off

France, who shocked their fans at the World Cup by boycotting a training session after Nicolas Anelka was sent home for insulting Domenech, have a long way to go to recapture their place among the world's elite.

Early cheers from the Stade de France stands on Saturday suggested the France supporters at least agreed with Blanc that a fresh start with young blood was needed.

Ninety dull minutes later, however, the players were jeered off the pitch.

With playmakers Yoann Gourcuff and Samir Nasri sidelined by suspension and injury respectively and two new names on his long injury list, Saha and fellow forward Loic Remy, Blanc will be forced to experiment again against Bosnia.

"Nothing works in our favor at the moment with all those injuries," said Blanc. "It's difficult to find anything positive in a defeat but there were things in our game that I liked."

France looked fairly solid at the back until they dropped their guard at the worst possible moment, conceding a goal four minutes from time.

"When you can't win, you must make sure not to lose but that sort of thing comes from experience," Blanc said. "When you're young, you make mistakes.”

“Our problem is we cannot afford to make any."

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