CL matchday 2: north to the future!

[guignol]

is it hard to get all excited about playing rosenborg? maybe. but watch out!

RFK has been doing very poorly in the norwegian league, but their last match was a 6-0 victory against middle of the standings club Odd Grenland, and in any case it's never easy to play in lerkendal.

two things that may help...

- it's still september, and weather should be sunny and relatively mild, about 8° at gametime. if we had to go to norway for matchday 6 like in 2002... brrrr...

- the rotation of the squad means everyone's pretty fresh. the downside is it makes it harder for everyone to be on the same page, but my guess is that houllier will field the 11 that started against real, and that worked pretty well...

[guignol]

the group for trondheim:

Coupet, Vercoutre – Berthod, Réveillère, Caçapa, Cris, Diatta, Monsoreau, Clément, Juninho, Diarra, Tiago, Pedretti, Malouda, Govou, Wiltord, Frau, Fred, Carew, Ben Arfa, Benzema

[Looper121]

Allez Lyonnais!

The weather should not be a big obstacle...I am confident...

[gaijin]

UEFA preview;

The two winners from the opening games in Group F meet at the Lerkendal stadium where Rosenborg BK, fresh from their 3-1 win at Olympiacos CFP, play host to Olympique Lyonnais, the 3-0 conquerors of Real Madrid CF.

Ten European seasons: Rosenborg are in their tenth season of UEFA Champions League football, one season short of the record of Manchester United FC and FC Porto, and have lost just one of their last 17 home games in the competition. But the Norwegian side will need to be at their best to beat Lyon, who are French champions for a record-equalling fourth successive season, and whose three-goal first-half performance against Madrid was highly impressive.

One previous meeting: The clubs have been paired together previously in the Champions League in the 2002/03 first group stage. On 25 September 2002, Olympique Lyonnais won 5-0 at the Stade Gerland in Group D with two goals from Tony Vairelles and further strikes from Eric Carrière, Sonny Anderson and Péguy Luyindula, all of whom have since moved on. The French champions were 4-0 ahead at the interval.

Lyon draw at Rosenborg: In the return at the Lerkendal stadium, the home side took the lead through top scorer Harald Brattbakk after 69 minutes, but Sidney Govou equalised after 84 minutes. The point was not enough for Lyon to progress to the next stage, with FC Internazionale Milano and AFC Ajax going through, and Rosenborg finishing bottom of the group.

Only Norwegian trip: The 1-1 draw at Rosenborg is the only previous occasion that Lyon have played a UEFA club competition match in Norway.

Unbeaten at home against French sides: But the home draw gained against Lyon enabled Rosenborg to keep their unbeaten home record in their fixtures with French clubs. On the only other occasion that the Norwegian side had played a French club at home, Rosenborg came from behind to secure a 3-1 win in the first group stage of the 2000/01 Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain FC.

MILESTONES

Eight consecutive seasons: Rosenborg returned to the Champions League after their absence in 2003/04 ended a run of eight consecutive seasons in the competition.

Proud domestic run over: Rosenborg are nearing the end of the 2005 domestic season and have no chance of winning their 14th consecutive Norwegian championship.

No wins in six at home: Rosenborg have not won a home Champions League game in the previous six attempts. Their last victory was 2-0 against Celtic FC in November 2001, which was followed by three draws in the 2002/03 group stage, and then, in 2004/05, by a 1-1 draw with Arsenal FC, a 2-1 defeat by PSV and a 2-2 draw with Panathinaikos FC.

First win in 13 games: Before their fine win at Olympiacos on Matchday 1, Rosenborg had not won in their previous 13 Champions League games with six draws and seven defeats.

Two wins in 22 matches: Taking the run back a little further, Rosenborg have now won just two games in their last 22 UEFA Champions League fixtures since a 6-1 win against Helsingborgs IF in September 2000.

Beaten in first non-final shoot-out: Lyon's last away game in the competition ended in a penalty shoot-out loss after a 1-1 draw in both legs of the quarter-final with PSV Eindhoven. After the away leg, PSV won 4-2 on spot-kicks in the first non-final penalty shoot-out in the competition.

Highest scorers: Lyon were the highest scorers in last season's competition with 29 goals. Their ten games brought a total of 41 goals. FC Barcelona registered an outstanding total of 45 goals in 16 games during the 1999/00 campaign.

European debut: The French champions made their European debut in December 1958 in the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing 7-0 away to FC Internazionale Milano. The result still stands as Lyon's heaviest defeat in Europe.

Dutch opposition for first game: Their first fixture in the Champions League came against Dutch opposition in the form of SC Heerenveen on 12 September 2000. Lyon won 3-1 at home.

[AllezParisAllezPSG]

i think rosenbord will play a real good game guys... but still think lyon will come out victorious in the end 2-1...

[SportBoy333]

Anything less than a victory is a disapointing result. I know a point on the road is good result but this not one of the elite European teams they are facing and in that situation I would say a draw on the road in a good result. Point at Real Madrid = good result. Point at Rosenburg = bad result.

[guignol]

another tough match. tough in a completely different way. rosenborg isn't real, but playing in lerkendal is always tough. the air, the light, i've been on short trips to scandinavia and it seems as strange as the moon somehow,very unsettling. carew's presence may help a lot here, though, after all, he's at home!

rosenborg will be hard to shift. they have an unsurprising reputation for being physical (même un peu bourrin...) and after their victory in greece a point puts them in the driver's seat for the UEFA cup spot.

[lefutur]

who's gonna start today against Rosenborg? Carew or Fred?

[fishbiproduct]

who's gonna start today against Rosenborg? Carew or Fred?

L'Equipe *thinks* Carew will, and I think that'd
be the logical choice

L'Equipe's probable team:
Coupet
Réveillère, Cris, Caçapa, Berthod
Govou, Tiago, M. Diarra, Juninho, Malouda
Carew

[fishbiproduct]

Ok, game just started and we have video:
http://live-foot.com/televisions/israel/livesports1

Connection isn't exactly great, as in "buffering city"
and I've tried different links. Worth a try, though.

Edit: "link #1" has been the best, so far

[sl7vk]

This will be a very interesting tie..... Rosenborg are dangerous.

[fishbiproduct]

This will be a very interesting tie..... Rosenborg are dangerous.

Indeed they are...
Radio's still the best: http://www.rmcinfo.fr/

[lefutur]

L'Equipe *thinks* Carew will, and I think that'd
be the logical choice

L'Equipe's probable team:
Coupet
Réveillère, Cris, Caçapa, Berthod
Govou, Tiago, M. Diarra, Juninho, Malouda
Carew

I think Fred will be subed in though at one point. I'd like to see goals from both of them! in fact im predicting a 2-0 score with one goal a piece from carew and fred. :)

[fishbiproduct]

I think Fred will be subed in though at one point. I'd like to see goals from both of them! in fact im predicting a 2-0 score with one goal a piece from carew and fred. :)

Optimistic, I see ;)

L'Equipe was right on the money with their predicted
starting team.
I've given up on video, just listening to RMC.

[fishbiproduct]

Cris!
1-0 for Lyon

[sl7vk]

Looks like Chris just scored a goal for Lyon. Rosenborg 0-1 Lyon.

[fishbiproduct]

And right before half-time, perfect.

[lefutur]

sweet!!!

now Lyon needs to keep up the pressure.

great that they scored before the half :)

[sl7vk]

Wow! Olympiacos have equalized in Madrid! A draw there would almost guarnatee Lyon getting through if they get 3 points today!

[Looper121]

Things look well. Anyone watch this match that can give a little more report that my stupid matchtracker can...