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F.C. BAYERN MUNCHEN
Stade Gerland, Lyon
April 27, 2010
After being slightly outplayed by yet another magical strike by Arjen Robben in the first leg, Lyon will look to make a comeback at their home soil, when the French team takes on Bayern Munich today. In a firecracker of a match in the first leg, the referee made it to the headlines for showing the dreaded red card to Frank Ribery of Bayern Munich and Jeremy Toulalan of Lyon, who are very important players for each side.
Bayern, four-time European champions and finalists a further three times, have far more experience and a magician known as Arjen Robben on their side, but Lyon coach Claude Puel feels his team are better when they know they have to win. Puel also acknowledged that his team had been too cautious in the first leg, when they showed little attacking intent despite briefly having a one-man advantage.
OLYMPIQUE LYON
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Lyon have had six days to prepare for the encounter, after their weekend league game with Monaco was postponed by the French league. It is in stark contrast to the build-up to the first match, when they were forced to travel to Germany by bus due to the volcanic ash cloud that grounded flights across Europe. They have not emerged unscathed from the past week, however; center back and captain Cris is doubtful with knee and hip injuries sustained in the first leg. Defense clearly is the problem for the French men, but they will count on there strong and consistent midfield to hold the opposition and try to create a few chances for the Argentinian striker Lisandro Lopez, who would love to score a crucial goal against Bayern Munich.
Predicted Starting XI:
H. Lloris
A.Reveillere – Jean-Alain Boumsong – Dejan Lovren – A. Cissokho
M. Gonalons – K. Kallstrom
Ederson – M. Pjanic – C. Delgado
Lisandro Lopez
Player to watch out for: Lisandro Lopez – the striker would be eager to perform in this game so as to reach the finals, and with some key goals to his name in the same competition from his days in Porto, he is certain to ring a few alarm bells in the Bayern camp.
F. C. BAYERN MUNCHEN
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Bayern Munich have more than a few things to worry about in a match that would decide whether they’ll travel to Madrid for the final or not. Bayern’s preparations have been disturbed by injuries to first-choice centre-backs Martin Demichelis and Daniel Van Buyten (both calf) in their 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. Coach Louis Van Gaal is expecting Demichelis to be fit for the all important match, and captain Mark van Bommel will return to the centre of the Bayern midfield after missing the first match through suspension. However, Ribery and Pranjic will remain unavailable due to suspensions. The prospect of a treble make this potentially a historic season for Bayern Munich, and they would give it all to find glory for the fifth time in European Cup.
Predicted Starting XI:
H. Butt
P. Lahm – H. Badstuber – M. Demichellis – D. Contento
A. Robben – M. Van Bommel – B. Schweinsteiger – H. Altintop
I. Olic – T. Muller
Player to watch out for: Arjen Robben – the Dutch winger seems to have some sort of a magic going along with him; every time the chips are down for Bayern, he’s been there to turn things around for them.
TheHardTackle Match Prediction
Lyon 1 – 1 Bayern Munich