Puel hopeful despite away goal disappointment

Lyon coach Claude Puel (pictured) believes his side can still reach the Champions League quarter-finals despite having conceded an away goal to Real Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 tie.

Lyon coach Claude Puel believes his side can still reach the Champions League quarter-finals despite having conceded an away goal to Real Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 tie.
Lyon old boy Karim Benzema came back to haunt his former employers by scoring the opening goal in Tuesday night's match at Stade Gerland, before Bafetimbi Gomis atoned for a shocking first-half miss with an 83rd-minute equaliser.
With an away goal to their name, Real are now favourites to go through ahead of the return leg in Madrid, which would bring an end to a six-year run of consecutive last-16 exits for the nine-time European champions.
Lyon were left to rue their failure to capitalise on a dominant first-half showing on home turf but Puel said they were still optimistic ahead of the trip to the Bernabeu on March 16.
"We produced a very encouraging performance from a collective and defensive perspective but we also knew how to create opportunities and we weren't far away from taking them," he said.
"It therefore gives us enough confidence ahead of the return leg as anything will be possible there, even though a 1-1 draw is always annoying because of the away goal scored by your opponents."
Lyon are bidding to oust Real in the last 16 for the second season running, having prevailed 2-1 on aggregate in last season's competition.
Puel refused to speculate on where the balance of power lay in the tie after the first leg but did express hope that his team would be able to repeat their exploits of 2010.
"... (I)t gives us a chance, given the individuals we have and the reaction we showed against Real," said Puel, who led Lyon to the semi-finals for the first time in their history last season.
"It's up to us to seize these opportunities because we're not just here to play Real but to beat them."
Puel's words were echoed by Gomis, who also said he was pleased to have atoned for the 34th-minute miss that saw him spoon the ball over an open goal after Iker Casillas had spilled a Michel Bastos cross at his feet.
"After we conceded the goal, we showed character and we were able to come back, which gives us a chance for the return leg," said the former Saint-Etienne frontman.
"It's my goal but my friends helped me a fair bit. I was lucky to get a nice flick-on from Cris.
"After my chance in the first half, I knew that I'd get another one and that I'd have to keep my cool."

Leonardo wary of Bayern vengeance

Inter Milan coach Leonardo (pictured) believes Bayern Munich will be gunning for revenge when they arrive in Italy for the Champions League clash between the pair on Wednesday.

Inter Milan coach Leonardo believes Bayern Munich will be gunning for revenge when they arrive in Italy for the Champions League clash between the pair on Wednesday.
Inter claimed their first European title in 45 years when Jose Mourinho led them to a 2-0 victory over the Germans in the final in Madrid last May.
But having finished second to Tottenham in the group stages, Inter were handed one of the toughest second round draws possible.
And Leonardo, who took over the club reins in late December after the dismissal of Mourinho's successor Rafael Benitez, is expecting Louis van Gaal's team to be highly motivated.
"That will still be playing on their minds," said Leonardo about the Madrid final.
"It will still be fresh in the Bayern players' memory that Inter ended years of Champions League frustration by winning it when they beat them. A lot of things have changed since then but the past will always be there."
When the draw was made it was debatable as to which side would have been considered favourites as Inter were struggling both at home and in Europe.
But Leonardo has revived their fortunes and 10 wins in his 12 matches in charge is testament to the Brazilian's effect on the team.
Inter have also become an expansive and attacking team under Leonardo, scoring goals at will but also leaking a few.
And that's not likely to change on Wednesday or in the second leg in Munich three weeks later.
"I don't believe that our style of play will alter dramatically between the home match and the away clash but of course we respect our opponents and we will have a good look at them beforehand," said Leonardo.
"In theory, at home in the second leg Bayern will have a better chance to turn the tie around or to retain any advantage they may have got from the first leg.
"But I think if we secure a good result in the first leg we can contain them away."
With Bayern being a van Gaal team, there is no doubt the game should be a swashbuckling affair as the Germans certainly won't come to defend.
"The self-confidence is there. We want to win, any other result would be rubbish," insisted young forward Thomas Mueller.
And if precedence is anything to go by, then Inter can expect Bayern to have a go at them.
Last season Bayern reached the last game in the group stages at risk of crashing out and needing a win away to Juventus to snatch second place in their group.
And despite going down a goal, Bayern produced a stunning, positive, attacking display to run out 4-1 winners.
However, they have not always been at their best this season and although they won 3-1 away to Mainz at the weekend, Van Gaal is expecting more from his team.
"We gave the ball away unnecessarily far too often, we were very careless in the final quarter of the field," he said.
"We know that, and we'll improve. But overall, I'm very satisfied."
In fact both sides are upwardly mobile in their domestic leagues and Inter centre-back Ivan Cordoba believes his side will have to perform to progress.
"We know they had a difficult patch this season but now they're back in great form and that should be an extra motivation for us," he said.
"We need to play a great match and then go away and get a result there too.
"We can't expect Bayern to leave gaps on Wednesday so we will have to work hard to create them and be up for it from the first minute."

Backs to the wall for injury-hit Marseille

Having lost striker Andre-Pierre Gignac (pictured) to injury, Marseille will place even greater emphasis on defence when they host Manchester United in Wednesday's Champions League last 16 first l

Having lost striker Andre-Pierre Gignac to injury, Marseille will place even greater emphasis on defence when they host Manchester United in Wednesday's Champions League last 16 first leg.
Gignac left the field in the 74th minute of Marseille's 2-1 defeat of Saint-Etienne on Saturday after sustaining an adductor muscle injury and has been ruled out for 15 days.
After an unconvincing start to his Marseille career, the former Toulouse striker had scored four goals in his previous four league games and his absence forces the French champions into an unwelcome attacking re-shuffle.
Fellow forwards Loic Remy and Brandao also failed to finish the game against Saint-Etienne after picking up knocks in the second half, but both are expected to be fit for the clash at Stade Velodrome.
France international midfielder Mathieu Valbuena is likely to start on the bench, meanwhile, as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
With United strong favourites to go through, Marseille coach Didier Deschamps says his side will have to do everything they can to prevent the three-time European champions from claiming a precious away goal.
"They were unbeaten in the group phase," said Deschamps, who captained OM to Champions League success in 1993.
"They're a team with huge talent up front but they're also a team that defends very, very well. I don't think there will be lots of goals.
"Knowing that the first leg is at our place and knowing the importance of away goals, of course we'll do everything to score but we know that it will also be important not to concede at the Velodrome."
Having begun the defence of their Ligue 1 title with back-to-back defeats, Marseille have had to dig deep to fight their way back into the title race and currently trail leaders Lille by three points.
The win over Saint-Etienne was their third consecutive league success, but holding midfielder Edouard Cisse knows that victory will not be easily acquired against United, who reached the quarter-finals last season.
"A little 0-0 draw would be fine with us, objectively speaking," Cisse told the Ligue 1 website. "Obviously I'd love to win 4-0 or 5-0.
"It's true that we beat Chelsea (1-0) in our final group game but we were both already qualified and it was more like a friendly match.
"We're obviously expecting a much tougher match against United."
United are currently four points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League but they endured an uncomfortable afternoon on Saturday when they only managed to beat non-league (fifth division) Crawley Town 1-0 in the FA Cup.
"There is no doubt a few players did not do themselves justice," said scathing United coach Sir Alex Ferguson.

With Manchester United strong favourites to go through, Marseille coach Didier Deschamps says his side will have to do everything they can to prevent the three-time European champions from claiming a precious away goal.

"It was disappointing. We had some players who maybe don't understand what FA Cup football is like."
United lost Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio da Silva to injury during the course of the game with Crawley and also had to withdraw their midfield compatriot Anderson after he sustained a hamstring problem.
Former South Korea midfielder Park Ji-Sung, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the Marseille trip with a hamstring injury.
There was more positive news on Monday, however, when France international left-back Patrice Evra signed a new contract that ties him to the club until 2014.
The former Nice and Monaco defender is likely to receive a hostile reception from the Marseille fans on what will be his first appearance in his homeland since he played a leading role in France's World Cup mutiny.
"Marseille are a handful at their own ground, their fantastic atmosphere and incredible support guarantees that," said Ferguson when the draw was made.
"They've had a good change in fortunes in the last two or three years, after a dry spell, and I think it'll be a difficult tie."
The teams have met once before in the Champions League, sharing a win apiece in the 1999-2000 group stage.