Lyon's share justified for Juninho

Juninho Pernambucano insisted Olympique Lyonnais were good value for their 3-0 win against FC Steaua Bucuresti in Romania despite being set on their way by a goalkeeping error just before half-time.

Creative hub
The midfield fulcrum of the Lyon side, the Brazilian took all of his side's free-kicks and corners last night and had a hand in all three goals. The first fell to Fred who finished into an empty net after Steaua's Brazilian goalkeeper Carlos Fernandes had fumbled Juninho's free-kick. The fates may have conspired to hand the visitors the lead, but Juninho insisted that his side would have prevailed, with or without that stroke of luck. "The first goal was not decisive," he told uefa.com. "Lyon would have won anyway."

True colours
While he acknowledged that, up until Fred's opener, "Steaua had played well, shown good organisation and caused us some problems," Juninho believes that Lyon showed their true colours after the break. "We played excellently in the second half, with quick combinations and were full of invention," he said. Juninho himself provided one terrific touch - a back-heel to set up Karim Benzema's for Lyon's third goal in the dying minutes of the game just as Steaua had been threatening to score their first goal since returning to their newly-renovated home stadium.

Top spot
Having beaten Real Madrid CF 2-0 at home in their opening game, Lyon are now sitting pretty at the top of Group H, while Steaua are level on points with Madrid, with both sides having inflicted heavy defeats on the section's bottom side, FC Dynamo Kyiv. Lyon and Madrid remain runaway favourites to progress from the section, but Juninho insisted that - regardless of the result in Bucharest last night - Steaua were not a side to be underestimated, and that the gulf between the inexperienced Romanians and the French champions was not a huge one.

'Fit to compete'
"We were the better side and deserved the win but Steaua proved that they are fit to compete in the UEFA Champions League," he said. "Still, at this level, all mistakes are fatal. Having said that, regardless of their mistake, we would have won because we were the better side. It was an important step towards qualification."