Tuesday night sees Lyon and Bayern Munich clash in the Champions League semi-final second leg. Despite between them having eliminated Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United along the way to the last four whoever reaches the final at the Bernabeu will do so as the underdogs.
Bayern Munich were involved in a taxing league game on Saturday as they scraped to a 1-1 draw away to Borussia Monchengladbach to keep them top of the league but level on points with Schalke.
Martin Demichelis and Daniel van Buyten were both taken off during the game due to injury and this may leave the German’s extremely short defensively come Tuesday night.
To add to Bayern’s woes, Franck Ribery is suspended after getting a red card in the first leg and Croatian international Danijel Pranjic will also miss out after receiving three yellow cards throughout the competition.
With no Ribery to call upon, Arjen Robben, more than ever, will have to step up and be counted. The Dutch winger claimed the only goal in the first leg and he has a good record at scoring winning goals in second leg knockout ties already this season having dumped Fiorentina and Manchester United out the competition with screamer goals.
Overall, Lyon will start slight favourites to win on the night, and will hope to benefit from not having played at the weekend with top marksman Lisandro Lopez (6.50 to score first) nice and fresh for this contest.
The Argentinean striker has been quoted saying: “It’s clear. The team must change their attitude and their mentality for the next match on Tuesday. We didn’t play enough when we had the ball. We were waiting in our own half too much. At 11 against 11 we had chances to attack more but we didn’t hurt our opponent enough and definitely not at 10 against 11. You saw a team that played too defensively. We have to correct the tactics and show a more positive spirit to go for victory.”
Claude Puel’s side have claimed some great victories at Stade Garland this season, seeing off teams such as Real Madrid and Bordeaux. Attack has to be the obvious way to go with a supportive home crowd willing them on to a place in the final at the Bernabeu.
Expect Lyon to be the better side on the night, but just like at Old Trafford, Bayern Munich will do enough to eliminate their French opponents.
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