United have upped their tempo. We need to be careful. Also, we need to stop picking up stupid yellows.
MU make their first substitutions, Giggs and Scholes off, Nani and Tevez on. Their went frm a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2. Tevez scares the crap out of me.
once the Lyon defenders keep their calm I'm happy Juni out for Bodmer. Clerc suffering, might go out for Keita...
Damn. they got an away goal. Now Lyon need to score 1+ goals at OT to have a chance at qualification.
I feel like we're back to square one when we go to OT in two weeks. Oh well, people were expecting us to be thrashed tonight, so there is hope for us yet. Also, two years ago, Lille beat MU in England. So...that's something, right?
Perrin is a very negative coach. United are nothing special there overrated. Nothing in the center of midfield. Ferdinand is shacky at the back. If Lyon go to Old Trafford with a more attacking & positive attitude they can nick it.
Come on Jean-Michel i know you don't lack to sack coaches but Perrin has failed and is not courageous enough to be a good tactician for Lyon... Hail to B.Lacombe till the end of the season
I don't know, I don't think this tie can be blamed on Perrin. Not starting Ben Arfa made me upset at first, but I have to say that Clerc did a good job at keeping Giggs and especially Evra quiet. That gamble paid off for most of the match, and I am more than willing to eat humble pie for my earlier criticism of Perrin's tactical choices. Ben Arfa is absolutely brilliant but tends to give the ball away a lot, which is something we couldn't afford against MU. Because we were able to retain possession for large stretches of the match, we managed to stay in the game. Towards the end of the game, the tables turned, and Lyon were put on the back foot once again. And we know what happened next. Juninho had to come off because he was close to getting a yellow, which would have suspended him for the second leg. I would rather have seen Ben Arfa come on at that moment instead of Bodmer, and instead of Bodmer, perhaps Keita would have been a more useful sub. Still, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with those substitutions or the timing of it. The one thing I think Perrin made a mistake on was bringining in Fred at the last minute. He's not a counterattacking player by any means, and all his touches on the ball were poor - he was also the reason MU scored. But it's easy to say things in hindsight. Lyon played well I thought, and props to Boumsong who had a HUGE match. Definitely our best defender tonight. Coupet was simply imperial, as was Toulalan. And nothing needs to be said about Benzema, who performed "typically" well, I'd say. It wasn't the victory that we all wanted, but this performance will boost up morale because it wasn't the sole shattering defeat that many were expecting, and the players now know that they have it in them to hurt Manchester United. Yeah we have to take them on at Old Trafford next, and granted our recent away form has been poor, but Lyon have always been a team that traditionally performs better away in the CL than at home. Going to OT won't be any more frightening than some of the other places Lyon have played. Now it's just a matter of keeping our players fit and keeping the press off our backs.
ManUre were beatable tonight. OL shot themselves in the foot by not going for that second goal before SAF's substitutions kicked in. I still think it's doable though. Ferdinand is highly overated, Brown is nothing special. We can get a goal at OT. The question is how the defense will hold up with Clerc in for Reveillere and who will replace Clerc defensively... But it's going to be all about who wants it more... RDV in 2 weeks
So what was midknight watching today then? Fenerbahce-Sevilla? Some of us are allowed to think that Ferdinand isn't world class, you know.
It's fair enough to say Ferdinand isn't world class, but it's the fact that your're basing it off of tonight's performance, which wasn't even bad by any means, if we went by that then Boumsong would be considered worldclass....and we all know Boumsong from his days at Newcastle... Benzema is a gem though, there aren't too many players that can outmuscle Vidic like that.
Wait...Boumsong isn't world class? I don't think anyone will dispute that Ferdinand is a good player, but I think midknight's point was that Lyon have no reason to be scared of him. My comment to MUFC_BARLOW was me being annoyed at the fact that quite a few EPL fans expect us to worship their league and their players while they casually dismiss most of ours. It gets tiring after a while.
Fair response, I understand where you are coming from and I can see that sort of EPL centric view does get annoying. I don't think you should be afraid of Ferdinand, the guy you should be afraid of is the big bad Serbian machine next to him, he will eat your childrens seriously though, Benzema will cause major problems for any backline in Europe and I think Lyon have more than earned enough respect in Europe for people to not dismiss their players or the calibre of Lique 1.
You have obviously never seen anything BUT Manchester United games in your life Anyway. One stat I'm worried about. Since OL became a knockout stage team, they've never progressed in any round where they didn't win their first match. As I said, this is going to be about who wants it more. Lets hope the Lions are VERY hungry in two weeks time.
Disappointing end to the match, poor defense to give up that away goal. Lyon played a smart match, kept ManU's stars in check, Coupet with a few WOW saves. Benzema's goal was something to behold, his stock continues to rise. Fred did look lost, and Juninho kind of came and went throughout. I hope you guys really step up at OT and suprise all of Europe with a victory.
I'm disappointed also with this result because I thought Lyon played really well. Benzema's goal was brilliant! The away goal for United gives a disadvantage, but I think it's still doable. Obviously it won't be easy but if they play their hearts out at Old Trafford, they could cause an upset. They did it against Rangers. Even though it's a completely different situation... they could at least gain some inspiration.
Oh, okay then. Well, it doesn't really matter since Lille in those days had the personnel to play defensively whereas Lyon don't. Anyway guys, here is a comforting statistic: In the last nine years for Lyon in Europe (which include the CL, CL qualifying, and UEFA Cup matches), in 89 away games, Lyon have lost 19 times. Four of the losses were in the UEFA Cup, one was in a pre-qualifying CL match, and the remaining 13 were in the CL. One of those losses was the result of a penalty shootout. In fact, Lyon have the best away form in the Champions League (unfortunately, we tend to lose the critical matches). But at least we're not scared of traveling. Of course we all know that statistics don't mean much, but besides the understandable loss to Barca in September, Lyon have rarely embarrassed themselves away from home in Europe, and by the time the second leg rolls around, we'll have recovered Cris, who will add much needed stability in the back. I'm not writing off United's home form by any means, but Lyon will put up a big fight in England.
I would not expect Lyon to roll over but United are much better at home than away in fact our away form is quite poor. Oh well it will hopefully be a great game and I am sure the Lyon fans will enjoy the atmosphere (but not, hopefully, the result).
when i started this thread i would have signed on the dotted line with both hands for a draw but now, it's hard not to have some regrets. no two first leg results can be more different than 1-0 and 1-1. but in the same vein, a victory at OT or a draw with enough goals to get us through seems more in the realm of possibility this morning than anything other than a right hiding did a couple of days ago. because last night we saw the real OL, one that's been in a coma for weeks and weeks, and we saw that they can stand toe to toe with one of the strongest teams of the day. we also saw that, just as HBA said, MU is only human. and especially in their own half they can be budged. so hope is once again permitted. yesterday i couched our chances for success in terms of how each player would perform to potential. and they all did. coupet, squillaci, toulalan and govou were all solid as expected, if anything sidney was better than expected, if he had put in a goal from his 3 or 4 times in the box you could have called his match perfect. those i had lingering doubts about, juninho, grosso, benzema, were all up to snuff... juni's toe was obviously hurting him, but you don't get a chance to beat manchester united every night of your life. grosso did indeed do a good job both at front and back (with a little help as expected). benzema's goal was simple. precise. surgical. the 50-50 players all got stuck in, kept their heads... RVR picked up the yellow he was hoping to avoid but in a situation where a man has to do what a man has to do. you can say the same about kongo kim's biscotte. the last word is for boumsong. it should be self-evident that if he was always a chuckle brother and nothing but, he never would have played for NUFC, juve, or EdF. last night he showed his best side and it was very solid. chapeau, JAB! the difference was not only individual, it was collective. again, that was the real OL... one that in my darkest dreams i feared i'd never see again. and it occurred to me while watching that it takes a real pitch to play it, and OL hasn't seen many of those in 2008. at OT, you can play billiards on the turf. perrin's game plan was excellent. govou on the left was a no-brainer, and although i was surprised at first to see HBA left out, he's a little tender physically for what was, what had to be, a very closely engaged contest. also, shutting down CR and giggs was the key not just to keeping that all-important clean sheet (which almost happened) but to not taking in a valise. more, i'm sure his coming on for the last quarter hour was preplanned and nicely too. you can talk about ferguson's coaching, but if hatem puts in one of his shots, AP's a genius for the ages. finally gerland was rocking. on TV, you can do a lot with mike placement and camera selection, but there was no mistaking what we saw last night. i've been at gerland when the virage nord are carrying the load for everyone, and it doesn't sound like that. QUI NE SAUTE PAS... last night, they were all bad gones!