As Real Madrid prepares for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie versus Olympique Lyon, they can’t help but rewind exactly one year to the same round of the same competition when Lyon bested the Blancos en route to a semifinal appearance. With the painful memory of a promising season gone awry as early as March thanks to Lyon, Madrid will look to change things this season thanks to the biggest acquisition either club has made since last season, the hiring of Jose Mourinho.
Lyon Vs. Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League Preview: Will One Year, Mourinho Change Blancos’ Fate
In the first leg of the tie last year, Lyon did well to defeat Madrid 1-0, but the Spanish giants were supposed to do away with the pesky French in the second leg. What was supposed to happen was ruined though when Miralem Pjanić scored a 75th minute equalizer at the Bernabeu to dash the dreams of the Spaniards and ignite those of the French, who would also win an all-French quarterfinal against Bordeaux.
Lyon's dispatching of Madrid last season was not a one-off. When the two clubs were put in the same group four years ago, OL topped the group with a familiar formula, winning at home and drawing in Spain. The exact same scenario played out the year before that as well. In their six Champions League match-ups, Lyon has come away 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 winners at home and grabbed a draw in all three away matches.
What Madrid has now that they didn’t in those six prior matches and is something quite special, Jose Mourinho. The Special One isn’t just trying to end a stretch of failures against Lyon though, but a six year stretch in which the famed club has not advanced past the round of 16.
“A lot of new players came to Madrid this year and have never played in a game between Lyon and Real. Lyon are a good team, who have experience of this kind of game. But we are Madrid,” Mourinho said.
The Madrid manager was quick to acknowledge Lyon and their successes though, making clear that Lyon is not an easy side to beat. If we think that both games will be easy, it's going to be difficult for us
. We have to do well in both games. We know our ability and won't underestimate Lyon."
Even with their recent success against Madrid, Lyon enters the match a clear underdog, something only made more pronounced by the absence of Lisandro. The deadly Argentinean striker will miss the first leg of the tie after he picked up an hamstring injury and now the team will have to find attacking prowess elsewhere.
Despite Lisandro’s absence putting Lyon even bigger underdogs, the club’s manager Claude Paul has no doubt that his club can do away with Madrid.
“Last year, few people believed in us. We managed to raise our game and maybe it surprised Madrid. I think the best of Lyon is still to come.”
While Lisandro’s absence will definitely be felt, much of the match will be determined by how Lyon copes with the new additions that Mourinho brought in, specifically in the midfield. Sami Khedeira, Angel di Maria and Mesut Ozil, Madrid’s triumvirate of young midfielders give the Blancos a boost in skill and pace in the midfield that will make this season’s tie very different than last season’s.
With Madrid's dynamic youngsters in the fold, whether starting or on bench and pushing forward or sitting deeper in the midfielder, Jeremy Toulalan's importance would be magnified. The French international will be charged not with providing some sort of calm in the field, but also helping the back line deal with Christiano Ronaldo, a task no one would envy.
A popular subplot from last season’s tie that is back is the return of Karim Benzema to his youth club where he went on to make his senior club debut as part of a 112 cap stint with Lyon. With Gonzalo Higuain out injured, Benzema has taken on a bigger role with Real Madrid and he’s taken advantage of the opportunity with 12 goals this season, four of which have come in the Champions Leaugue.
The talented 23-year-old moved from Lyon to Madrid with great fanfare as the next great French striker, but he’s fallen short of expectations. The loss to Lyon last season was said to have stung Benzema more than others because he was unable to make much of an impact in his only appearance in the tie, a 26 minute cameo off the bench in the first leg. With another chance to put Madrid past Lyon and this time with a greater role thanks to Higuain’s injury. Benzema will surely be licking his chops at the opportunity in front of him.
Even if Benzema gets his chance this season, the real focus will be on the new members in the club. Along with the young trio of midfielders, Emmanuel Adebayor is with the team, but the real attention will be placed on Mourinho. Thus far in his reign at the Bernabeu, Mourinho hasn't produced the special results that are much different than that of his predecessors and Madrid continues to play second fiddle to Barcelona in La Liga, but he is a manager who has a history of turning around clubs from past Champions League failure.
“It’s been six years since Madrid reached the quarter-finals. When I was at Inter, the club hadn’t won the Champions League for more than 50 years. Is it possible to do it this year? We have to beat Lyon,” Mourinho said ever aware of his own accomplishments.
Step one for Madrid will be avoiding defeat at the Stade de Gerland, something they have been unable to do. Last year’s 1-0 defeat in Lyon was the best that Real Madrid have managed at the stadium, but they’ll be aiming to better it this time around and steal a page out of the Lyon blueprint. Go on the road and get the draw then take care of business at home to book a place in the quarterfinals of the world’s biggest club tournament.
See More:
