CL Preview: Olympique Lyon - Bayern Munich

The final fixture in Group F sees Lyon and Bayern Munich battling for top spot and a potentially easier fixture in the first knock-out stage.  Both sides secured their passage with wins on Matchday 5, and will want to finish as top dogs. 

Treading Water

Lyon may be top of Ligue 1 and into the knock out stage of the Champions League but there is a sense that the perennial French champions are not firing on all cylinders right now.  

Their loss to Nantes at the weekend after a last minute Ivan Klasnic penalty was their fourth of the season and their third defeat in as many games.  They were surprisingly eliminated from the French League Cup by Metz and have taken just one point from their last three league matches having also gone down to a recent loss at Paris St. Germain. 

“One point from three games is really worrying but we only have ourselves to blame for it,” midfielder Jeremy Toulalan said.  “The Champions League, however, is a different story.  It's time for us to turn the page.”  

Their Champions League campaign thus far has matched opponents Bayern with three victories and two draws.  Les Gones secured their passage to the knock-out stage with a 2-1 away win in Florence over Fiorentina.   

The seven times in a row French champions opened up with consecutive draws against Fiorentina and Bayern, but have since won three on the bounce.  One of those win was an eight goal affair against Steaua as they won 5-3 in Bucharest.  

The game against Bayern in the Allianz Arena finished 1-1 with Zé Roberto equalising after a Martin Demichelis own goal had handed Lyon a first half lead.  

There may not be masses at stake on Wednesday except pride, but Lyon are desperate to succeed in the Champions League having never made it past the quarter-final stage.  Dominant in France for nearly a decade, chairman Jean-Michel Aulas will want to see his side in contention when it comes to the crunch at the end of the season.  

Back In The Big Time

Bayern Munich are back where they consider they belong, and that is at the top end of the European table.  Last season’s enforced participation in the Uefa Cup very nearly ended in glory, but the Bavarians were given a rude awakening at the hands of eventual winners Zenit St.Petersburg in the semi finals. 

While publicly stating they were glad to be in the competition, it must have rankled the likes of Uli Hoeness to have had to ‘slum it’ in what he once called the ‘Mickey Mouse Cup’.

The 2006/07 season saw them knocked out at the quarter final stage by eventual winners Milan 4-2 on aggregate.  A 2-2 draw in the San Siro appeared to have set up Bayern for a date with Manchester United in the semis only for them to slump to a 2-0 defeat in the Allianz Arena and see their dreams of  a fifth European title shattered.

Now back in the Champions League they have made relatively light work of qualifying from Group F and now want to finish on top and proceed to the knock-out phase full of confidence. 

The Bavarians started their campaign with a 1-0 away win over Steaua thanks to a Daniel van Buyten header, and followed that up with the point at home to Lyon.  An impressive 3-0 home win over Fiorentina gave them a huge boost and they then secured a point at the Artemio Franchi in the return leg. 

Last time out they cantered to a comfortable 3-0 win over the Romanians from Steaua to confirm their progression with a game to spare.

In the Bundesliga Bayern are returning to their best after making their worst start to a league campaign in over 30 years. With one game left before the German top flight takes it’s winter break, Jürgen Klinsmann’s side are level at the top with surprise package Hoffenheim, whom they beat last Friday in the much-hyped game of the season.

Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer has gone on record this week claiming Bayern are good enough to win the Cup this season saying: “The team is strong enough to win the Champions League.  They can certainly hold their own with the really big teams in Europe.  If you catch two good days, you can beat anybody, even Barcelona. We are excellently poised for the ultimate goal.”

How much of that is bluster and how much is actual belief remains to be seen.  But whatever happens on Wednesday, FC Bayern will in the draw for the first knock-out phase.  

FORM GUIDE

Lyon

06/12/08  v Nantes (a)  LOST 2-1  (Ligue 1)

29/11/08  v Valenciennes (h)  DREW 0-0  (Ligue 1)

25/11/08  v Fiorentina (a)  WON 1-2  (Champions League)

22/11/08  v PSG (a)  LOST 1-0  (Ligue 1)

16/11/08  v Bordeaux (h)  WON 2-1  (Ligue 1)

11/11/08  v FC Metz (h)  LOST 1-3  (Coupe de la Ligue)

Bayern Munich

05/12/08  v 1899 Hoffenheim (h)  WON 2-1  (Bundesliga)

29/11/08  v Bayer Leverkusen (a)  WON 0-2  (Bundesliga)

25/11/08  v Steaua Bucharest (h)  WON 3-0  (Champions League)

22/11/08  v Energie Cottbus (h)  WON 4-1  (Bundesliga)

15/11/08  v Bor. Mönchengladbach (a)  DREW 2-2  (Bundesliga)

09/11/08  v Schalke (a)  WON 1-2  (Bundesliga)

TEAM NEWS

Lyon

Coach Claude Puel has a number of injury and suspension worries to overcome prior to the visit of Bayern to the Stade de Gerland.  Cris and Juninho both serve one-match bans having collected their third bookings of the group stage on Matchday 5. 

Defender John Mensah  is a doubt after he suffered a calf injury in the warm-up in the Nantes game.

Puel also has Frédéric Piquionne, Mathieu Bodmer, Francois Clerc and Anthony Reveillere unavailable.  Bodmer underwent groin surgery on 24 November and is expected to be out for ten weeks.  Jeremy Toulalan or Fabio Grosso may be drafted in to partner Alain Boumsong in the centre of defence.

Karim Benzema may be fit, but Puel could decide to rest him for the upcoming Marseille game seeing as the result against Bayern is not a vital one.

Probable Starting XI: Lloris, Gassama, Toulalan, Boumsong, Grosso, Makoun, Fabio Santos, Källström, Govou, Fred, Ederson  

Bayern Munich

Bayern trainer Jürgen Klinsmann has been hit with two late withdrawals of key players.  Centre back Lucio has pulled out ill, while midfielder Zé Roberto is ruled out with a slight muscle strain.  

Martin Demichelis will return to partner Daniel van Buyten in defence, while Andreas Ottl could be given the nod to play alongside Mark van Bommel in the centre of midfield.

Hamit Altintop makes a long awaited return to the squad following his lengthy metatarsal injury.  Lukas Podolski has seemingly recovered from his back injury, but remains a slight doubt after going down with gastroenteritis. 

Willy Sagnol is the only other player unavailable. 

Probable Starting XI: Rensing, Oddo, Demichelis, van Buyten, Lahm, van Bommel, Ottl, Schweinsteiger, Ribéry, Klose, Toni  

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Lyon- Jean Makoun

The Cameroon international has been an ever-present for Lyon this season in Ligue.1 since his summer move from Lille.  The dynamic midfielder usually plays the defensive role and is known for his stamina, power and footballing brain.  He will go head-to-head with Mark van Bommel and Zé Roberto in the engine room and could play an important role in Lyon achieving the result that could see them top the group. 

Bayern Munich- Franck Ribéry

Ribéry makes a return to his homeland and will look to be the match winner as Bayern seek to finish as top dogs in the group.  As a former Marseille player he would love to get one over his former adversaries.  Ribéry has been back on top of his game in the past few weeks and that has coincided with a superb run of results for the Bavarians.  In the Champions League he leads the assists stats with four in five games.  Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose in particular will be hoping he lay on a few more on Wednesday.

PREDICTION

A goalless draw or a home win would see Lyon finish on top, whereas a score draw or a Bayern win would see the German champions top Group F.  Lyon are set to field a far from full strength XI and are not in the best of form of late unlike Bayern, who are on a run of 12 games without defeat. Therefore I’m going to predict an away win for Bayern Munich.

Olympique Lyon 1-2 Bayern Munich

Mathew Burt, Goal.com

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