Lyon tame Real again in Champions League
Olympique Lyon made another stylish start to the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in Group E on Wednesday, their second victory over the Spanish club in a year.
Olympique Lyon made another stylish start to the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in Group E on Wednesday, their second victory over the Spanish club in a year.
The French champions dominated for most of the match and sealed their latest win over the nine-times European champions at Gerland stadium with first-half goals from striker Fred and midfielder Tiago.
Lyon had beaten Real 3-0 exactly a year ago in their opening group match of last season.
Eager to prove that victory was no fluke, Gerard Houllier's men put the Spaniards under pressure right from the start.
Lyon's inspirational Brazilian midfielder Juninho forced goalkeeper Iker Casillas to make a dramatic save with one of his trademark free-kicks from 30 metres after seven minutes.
Juninho then set up his young compatriot Fred with a long-range pass for Lyon's opening goal in the 12th minute.
Fred outsprinted Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and, showing real composure, sent in a lob from just outside the box that gave Casillas no chance.
Tiago swept home a cross from Sidney Govou in the 31st minute to underline Lyon's superiority.
Govou, playing only his second match of the season for his club, hit the woodwork and Fred narrowly missed the target before the interval with Casillas beaten on both occasions.
"I can tell you that I'm really proud to be the coach of Olympique Lyon tonight," Houllier told a news conference. "This was an outstanding performance on our part."
"We ended up with a 2-0 victory but we could have won by a much bigger margin. The first half was simply flawless. "Tonight we showed we have great confidence, along with the kind of experience that could prove useful in the near future."
Real's new coach Fabio Capello said: "Lyon were superior to us technically and physically in the first 45 minutes. They created many chances to score and we were a bit weak in defence.
"There is still a lot of re-building work to do. We must keep believing in our ability. We are going to improve soon."
Real tried to haul themselves back into the game after the break, but Lyon proved too well-organised in defence.
The visitors created their best chance to narrow the gap when new Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy shot wide 10 minutes from time.
Along with the three points, Lyon's triumph also sent a warning to group rivals Steaua Bucharest and Dynamo Kiev. Steaua beat the Ukrainians 4-1 away on Wednesday.