BLOGSWAP! Ahead of the Real Madrid vs Lyon game, FFT.com's impressive new signing James Horncastle pops over from The French Connection to explain why both sides will go ionto the game extremely nervously...
Driving away from the Stade Gerland on February 16, Lyon manager Claude Puel probably didnâÂÂt have ÃÂdith PiafâÂÂs famous song Je Ne Regrette Rien booming out of his car stereo. His side had just recorded a famous 1-0 win over Real Madrid, but there was something niggling away at the back of the FrenchmanâÂÂs mind.
It wasnâÂÂt Cristiano Ronaldo â or as those James Bond lovers over at LâÂÂÃÂquipe like to call him, âÂÂthe Man with the Golden BootsâÂÂ. Nor was it the return of Karim Benzema, the now-forgotten prodigal son whose second-half cameo was, letâÂÂs face it, little more than a footnote.
It was the fact Lyon came very close, but ultimately didnâÂÂt score a crucial second goal.
FEATURE, Wed Feb 17: Knock-out curse threatens Pellegrini and Pérez
Asked if a 1-0 lead would be sufficient to carry his side through to the quarter-finals, Puel simply replied: âÂÂItâÂÂs 50-50. We know that on their pitch, Real are capable of putting even more pressure on their opponents. It will be even more difficult in Madrid. This is why I would have preferred to double the stakes in the first leg.âÂÂ
Puel: What's French for "two-goal cushion"?
And yet contrary to what Puel said, the odds now seemed to be stacked in LyonâÂÂs favour. After beating their calculators with baguettes, French number-crunchers worked out that in each of the last five seasons 87.5% of teams who have won the home leg 1-0 at this stage of the Champions League have somehow gone through to the next round.
And as fate would have it, the only team to have thrown away such an advantage was of course Real Madrid in 2005. Les idiots!
Anthony Réveillère, the clubâÂÂs veteran full-back who often pretends to be a defender â but only on weekends â chose to remind everyone of LyonâÂÂs past glories against European footballâÂÂs self-proclaimed royal family. âÂÂWe have beaten them three times at home and they have never beaten us at the Bernabéu,â he smiled.
And so, like a Monty Python sketch, Madrid were promptly told in heavily accented English that their mother was a hamster and that their father smells of elderberries.
Well, not exactly. Admittedly, the old chestnut about Madrid not reaching the quarter-finals since 2004 was trundled out and poked a bit. As too were RealâÂÂs frequent defeats to French teams, like Paris Saint German in the early '90s and the infamous one six years ago to the team that plays on a car park â thatâÂÂs Monaco to you and I.
FEATURE, Tue Feb 16: Madrid ready for their annual knock-out round
But then came the paranoia. Not pressure, nor the weight of expectation, just paranoia. LâÂÂÃÂquipe asked how it were possible that Lyon, who were then fourth in Ligue 1 and out of both French cup competitions, had beaten Spanish giants Real Madrid? They called it âÂÂthe impossible truthâÂÂ.
Why? Because for one match and one match only PuelâÂÂs much-maligned philosophy â the unpalatable presser, récupérer, accélérer â had been executed perfectly. They surely couldnâÂÂt do it again. Not with Jean-Alain Boumsong marking Gonzalo HiguaÃÂn. Not with Lisandro López scoring just once in the Champions League this season.
"Oooh, it's big": Lyon train at the Bernabeu
Even LyonâÂÂs impressive form in the group stages was now treated to a French variation of the Spanish Inquisition. While it's true that PuelâÂÂs side defeated Liverpool at Anfield, RafaâÂÂs Reds were eighth in the Premier League at the time.
And as for Fiorentina, theyâÂÂre now 11th in Serie A. A poll question on a French website yesterday even asked: is it a dream to believe in LyonâÂÂs qualification in the Champions League?
Impressively, Lyon havenâÂÂt conceded a goal in 620 minutes, but as one journalist reminded the reserved Hugo Lloris: âÂÂThis is Real Madrid! TheyâÂÂve scored 14 in their last three matches!âÂÂ
And while Marca try to make us forget, it bears remembering that Manuel PellegriniâÂÂs side are on course to become the best Madrid vintage since the 1960-61 season, when Alfredo di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás weren't just breaking records but making them up.
Lyon may still be undefeated in Ligue 1 in 2010, but if they couldnâÂÂt beat second from bottom Boulogne at the weekend, how can they realistically expect to knock the new Galácticos off their perch? Especially after their last trip to Spain ended in a 5-2 defeat to Barcelona...
La Liga Loca's Tim Stannard guests on The French Connection: Will Lyon bring Real Madrid back to reality?
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