CL 1st KO round: Roma-OL 21/02/07

[guignol]

here's where we lay it all on the line... every year until now OL has gone into the knockout rounds saying the objective is to reach the quarters. but it's no secret that this year goal n° 1 is to take big cup home!

so pressure's on: it would look bad for the club to take a step back just when they've revealed their larger ambition. and roma looks like one of the tougher customers, they're going very well.

as luck would have it, lyon's roster should be the most complete it's been since the beginning of the season. the only players that are reportedly unavailable are diarra and wiltord, and the latter may only be disinformation as nino is said to be "continuing his recovery" but was seen practicing normally a week ago.

i hope we see some roma supporters around to discuss with... but let's remember our manners; our board has a certain reputation as a reasonable, gentlemanly place, and i mean to have it stay that way!

[SportBoy333]

I dont think this Lyon team is better than the ones from the past 2 seasons. Thats why I think that Roma might be able to pull the upset and I certainly dont think they are good enough to take it all. If they still had Essien and Diarra I would put them as one of the favorties to win it but I still think they are underdogs. Essien-Diarra or Tiago-Toulalan I mean how could you possibly make a case for them being better now as opposed to the last 2 seasons ?? Ok they have Baros now but he needs to prove himself all over again. The back 4 is pretty much the same its been for the past 3 years and i just dont think its good enough as opposed to what the bigger teams have. I think they have enough to squeeze past Roma but after that I dont think they will have a great chance.

[lefutur]

Lyon needs just a bit of luck (and a bit more cojones from Houllier). They were narrowly beaten the last 2 times around and looked good enough to make it to the final. They need to keep the pressure on when they are ahead and not crack in the final minutes.

I think Baros just might contribute something in this game.

[guignol]

is lyon better than in recent years?

up front they certainly are! i'm not talking about baros (anything he adds will be icing on the cake), but about benzema, and the improvement of malouda.

in midfield, i agree in part with SB: tiago and toulalan aren't as good as essien and diarra, but we are deeper than before, and the trio juni-tiago-diarra was a better combination than with mike; what's left is for someone to really fill djila's shoes: there are three possible candidates but none have really stepped up.

as for the backline, it is almost the same as in the past, but that's what this sector needs: stability. and the one real change has been a huge step up: squillaci is on a level with cris and that means w've got a charnière equal to any. abidal needs no introduction. the weak spot is on the right, but only relative to the rest, both RVR and clerc are definitely CL caliber.

[SportBoy333]

How many total goals have Fred and Benzema scored since coming here ?

[Inara]

Maybe Houllier is keeping the recoveries of Benzema and Wiltord under wraps - they've been training normally for the past few days. Wouldn't that be a nice surprise? :D

Above all, I'm looking forward to a good game. Lyon always raises their level of game play for the CL - in fact, I think they play better in Europe than in France sometimes. Despite the fact that these two are such attack based sides, I have a feeling we won't be seeing too many goals from either team. Maybe one or two.

Interesting side-note: According to the bettors, Lyon still has the same odds to win the CL (9-1) that they had at the end of the group stages, despite their recent poor form. That shouldn't be so reassuring...but it is. It's nice to know that the bookmakers still have faith. :D

[magicgam1]

one question: are you sure Squillaci will play in central defense or does Caçapa have any chance to get his place back?

Squillaci has been very strong this season and he would surely earn to keep his place in the starting XI

[guignol]

caçapa will start some matches but he's no longer the first choice, toto is just too awesome. he and cris are 1-2 in équipe's ratings, and it's deserved. imo squillaci is our best signing since... cris!

[Allez Lyonnais]

I think they have enough to squeeze past Roma but after that I dont think they will have a great chance.
I couldn't agree more and I'm not being sarcastic.

[Inara]

I've decided not to worry about Lyon's chances past the quarter-finals until they get past Roma.

Thankfully, Lyon has a really good away record, and they tend not to get intimidated by hostile stages. The Olimpico will be sold out, but I doubt it will be that much of a factor. Realistically, the score will probably be a draw (hopefully not a scoreless draw).

I wonder what anti-Juninho tactics Spalletti has planned. Roma will end up playing like ballerinas if they try too hard in avoiding making fouls. And has anyone else noticed the excessive Totti praise coming out of the Lyon camp? Not that Totti doesn't deserve it, but he seems to be the single worst nightmare of every OL player.


Expected Roma lineup:

Doni

Panucci - Mexes - Chivu - Tonetto

Pizarro - De Rossi

Wilhelmsson - Taddei - Mancini

Totti

Chivu is still uncertain, he might be replaced with Ferrari.



Expected Lyon lineup:

Coupet

Reveilliere - Squillaci - Cris - Abidal

Juninho - Toulalan - Tiago

Govou - Fred - Malouda

Tiago is still uncertain, he might be replaced by either Kallstrom or Fabio Santos. Regardless, I think our weak point as been our midfield. We seem to have a hard time keeping possession of the ball, or stealing it from the other team. Toulalan, Juni, and Tiago (if he plays) need to shape up.

Toulalan and Reveilliere are one yellow card away from suspension.

I really hope Houllier doesn't put Clerc in place of Govou, especially if Reveilliere is at right back. That's too much defense, IMO. I also hope Houllier doesn't try the 4-4-2 again. Having Fred and Baros on the field at the same time is kind of pointless. I'd rather have Ben Arfa (or Benzema, but that's just not going to happen anytime soon:( ). Plus, I think in a 4-4-2, our midfield becomes leakier.


And here is our cheerful referee, Michael Riley:

http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/ng/sp/empics/4021939


He looks like a card happy kind of guy.

[Allez Lyonnais]

Our goal is rather simple: to avoid defeat and to score.

The bottomline is we're gonna have to bring something back home in order to have a good shot at advancing.

[Breakwood]

Our goal is rather simple: to avoid defeat and to score.

The bottomline is we're gonna have to bring something back home in order to have a good shot at advancing.

And since we're playing an Italian team, we must be sure to score first.

[guignol]

oh christ not riley!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Riley_(referee)

that said, riley was the ref in our 4-0 shellacking of PSV (he sent cocu off) and i seem to remember he did a good job (although i may be biased). ;)

[guignol]

Coupet

Reveilliere - Squillaci - Cris - Abidal

Juninho - Toulalan - Tiago

Govou - Fred - Malouda

looks right to me. govou has been playing well, i think clerc started in lille precisely to rest sidney for this match, i expect a big one from him.

i also expect abidal and malouda to pick up their game, they've been flat. in fact i think we'll see a different OL from the last 2 months. for the first time in ages they have a match they could very well lose even playing well, and in the past it's always these matches where they transcend themselves... i'll bet they miss the good old days of being the underdog!

[guignol]

finally, GH says it will be "a miracle" if tiago plays... but then again they spent the morning visiting the vatican! :D

benzema and wiltord didn't make the trip even though benzema is listed as healthy...

[Inara]

Greg Lalas wants to be Juninho (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/02/20/juninho/index.html?section=si_latest)ahead of the match with Roma:


Enter the Lyon's den: If I could be any player in the world, I'd be Juninho

For me, ski trips are vastly important. Riding chairlifts affords me the time to solve today's universal riddles:

Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? When will our government get serious about climate change? How did Lionel Richie get away with stalking his blind student in the video for Hello?

And eventually, these life-or-death questions give way to something even more serious: soccer.

Now my ski buddies are not afflicted with my soccer-itis, but they've got a decent amount of knowledge. They know who Landon Donovan is, think Barcelona will win La Liga, and one of them is actually a diehard Reading fan to the point that he skipped skiing on Saturday to watch the Man U-Reading FA Cup game on some Chinese stream on his laptop. Maybe he's got a mild case.

So, the chairlift question of the weekend was this: If you could be any current player in the world, who would you be?

The usual skill-masters flew out as chaotically as Shaun White launching off a half-pipe wall: Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard, Henry again. Someone scoffed at the skillful guys and declared he would be David Beckham, smart-aleckly paraphrasing Winston Churchill, "You guys may have skills today, but tomorrow I'll still have $250 million."

I chuckled at that one. For me, it's about quiet genius and grace and passion and winning. So when the boys looked over at me like I was the Oracle of Delphi, I stared at them with my eyes blazing in socceritic euphoria and said:

Juninho.

Silence. Everyone cast about for something to look at. Some skier on the run below. The trees on the slope. More silence. Awkward silence.

Finally, Reading boy spoke for everyone: "Who?"

Exactly, I thought. Who? How come none of these guys knows who Juninho is? How can a Brazilian creative genius with five top European league championships escape household-name status? How is it that Reading boy can expound about the above-average abilities of Steve friggin' Sidwell but has no clue of the primo artistry of Olympique Lyonnais' leader?

Juninho's first problem is that he plays for Lyon. Unlike French players, French clubs are about as popular as French bistros in Jackson, Miss. There are no billion-dollar satellite deals for Ligue 1's rights. Only once has a French club won the Champions League: Marseille in 1993.

But over the past few years, after a French friend took me to a tres cool Paris soccer bar to watch Lyon with a roomful of mad Lyonnais, I've become a rabid fan of les Gones. Recently, they've seen unprecedented success: five Ligue 1 championships in a row. This season they're running away with another trophy, 13 points ahead of second-place Lens, having scored 44 goals in 25 games.

What I like most about OL is how success seems stitched into the club's jerseys. They can lose significant players like Michael Essien and Mahamadou Diarra and not miss a beat.

The common thread through it all is Juninho, le capitain, who joined OL in '01 from Vasco de Gama. He arrived just in time to lead the club on its triumphant run. He's got it all, deft touch, speed of thought and that unteachable je ne sais quoi that all great captains possess. And he can put it all together to create art in motion.

That's why I want to be him, to experience, just once, the feeling of conjuring something magical from the soccer elements. To have total control over what is almost by definition an uncontrollable moment -- and to win doing it. Sure, I'm a romantic and fiscally irresponsible fool, but that would be better than $250 million.

The knock on OL is it has always fallen short in the Champions League, which explains why Juninho isn't a household name worldwide. Since Ligue 1 is not on par with the Premiership or La Liga -- and not as wonderfully messed up as Serie A -- Lyon must win in Europe to garner the kind of love it deserves. Call me crazy, but I think this might be the year.

First, on Wednesday, they take on Roma in the first leg of the knockout stages. Roma's a team much like Lyon a few years ago: on the verge, but not quite there. This is going to be an epic series in the midfield, though, because you've got two of the best central midfielders in the world going at it face to face.

After Roma, it only gets harder. But with Juninho running the show, I fully expect my Gones to meet Inter Milan in the finals in Athens in May. Then, Juninho's name will not be greeted by silence on the chairlift but with cheers and knowing nods. And my ski buddies and I can go back to contemplating Lionel Richie.

[Tottino]

good luck guys. this one will be a very exciting game. I want both to play on our best games, because we are two sides that play the most exciting football in europe right now. I have alot of respect for lyon, i follow them because im big fan on Juninho, and im honoured that roma will play them. Good luck and may the best team win.

[guignol]

thanks for helping me believe in football again tottino... and no matter what the outcome is, we will all share one shining virtue:

we are not manchester united supporters!

[Breakwood]

we are not manchester united supporters!

At the end of the day that's all that matters, right? :p

[Inara]

I'm getting a lot of anti-French vibes in English forums :( :(

Anyway, I found these somewhat cheerful stats that had been posted this morning:


In the last FIVE years of CL competition, the last 15 away games, excluding qualifying rounds:

Lyon: 9 wins - 3 draws - 3 defeats
Barca: 7 wins - 4 draws - 4 deafeats
Liverpool: 6 wins - 5 draws - 4 defeats
Inter: 6 wins - 5 draws - 4 defeats
Arsenal: 5 wins - 7 draws - 3 defeats
AC Milan: 4 wins - 7 draws - 4 defeats
Chelsea: 5 wins - 3 draws - 7 defeats
Porto: 5 wins - 5 draws - 5 defeats
PSV: 5 wins - 4 draws - 6 defeats
Real: 4 wins - 5 draws - 6 defeats
Bayern: 4 wins - 5 draws - 6 defeats
United: 4 wins - 3 draws - 8 defeats

----

Teams that have not played 15 games in the last five years:

Valencia: 3 wins - 2 draws - 4 defeats
Roma: 2 wins - 2 draws - 5 defeats
Celtic: 1 wins - 0 draws - 8 defeats
Lille: 1 wins - 2 draws - 3 defeats