Eindhoven-Lyon tie balanced on a razor's edge
PSV Eindhoven are one clean sheet away from their first semi-final in Europe's premier club competition since 1988 when they host French champions Olympique Lyon on Wednesday at the Philips Stadium.
PSV Eindhoven are one clean sheet away from their first semi-final in Europe's premier club competition since 1988 when they host French champions Olympique Lyon on Wednesday at the Philips Stadium.
However, keeping the French side out for 90 minutes will be no easy task as they are the leading scorers in the Champions League to date, having hit 28 goals in their nine matches so far.
Still, PSV do have the advantage of an away goal from the 1-1 draw in the first leg of their quarter-final last week and Lyon will have to take the game to the Dutch side, making sure they keep their scoring run going to prevent their Champions League campaign ending at the quarterfinal stage again as it did last season when they went out to eventual champions Porto.
PSV coach Guus Hiddink used Saturday's first division match against Den Bosch, which ended in a comfortable 3-0 win, to give Korean Park Ji-Sung a rest, while Andre Ooijer and Johann Vogel stayed on the bench.
After AZ's second league defeat in eight days it is now just a question of when, rather than if, PSV win the Dutch title as they stretched their lead to 13 points at the weekend and need only eight more points from their remaining six matches to be crowned champions for the fourth time in six years.
While PSV are seeking to write another great chapter in their history, their fans are recalling an earlier glorious chapter ahead of this week's match: the one that ends with PSV lifting the European Cup in 1988.
Then, as now, PSV were under the command of Hiddink and then, as now, they played a French team in the quarters.
PSV drew 1-1 away at Bordeaux in 1988 before drawing 0-0 at home to reach the semis where they knocked out Real Madrid.
Whoever wins this tie will face either AC Milan or Inter Milan in the semis at the end of the month and in early May and while PSV do have some past experience to fall back on, Lyon are attempting to sail on into uncharted waters.
Their only previous appearance in the last four of a European competition came in 1964 when they reached the semis of the European Cup Winners Cup and lost a playoff to Sporting Lisbon.
Of more immediate relevance however is their 2-2 draw with Nantes in the French League on Saturday -- a result that pleased coach Paul Le Guen who fielded a largely reserve side.
Playmaker Juninho and defender Eric Abidal were rested while internationals Sidney Govou, Sylvain Wiltord and Florent Malouda all started on the bench along with sweeper Cris.
Lyon, like Eindhoven, are also just a few weeks away from being crowned their domestic champions -- Lyon for the fourth successive year -- as the weekend results left them 14 points clear with six matches to play.
Le Guen knows Wednesday's match is "do-or-die" and has promised the Dutch champions a tough challenge with his team at full strength and their confidence high.
Le Guen also believes that their away form in the competition gives them reason to be optimistic having won at Sparta Prague (2-1), Fenerbahce (3-1) and Werder Bremen (3-0) in the last round, with their only away defeat coming at Manchester United (1-2) last November.
They have also scored in every Champions League match they have played this season, even if the first leg ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw.
"We felt frustrated by the result of the first leg," said defender Anthony Reveillerre.
"I'm certain that we are going to score there. PSV can't play for a goalless draw and if their strategy is only to defend they are going to suffer," he added.
"It's far from being over, and we are far from being eliminated," said Le Guen, approaching the second leg of the one quarter-final really balanced on a razor's edge after neither side gained a clear advantage last week.