Pedretti calls for Lyon bite

Olympique Lyonnais midfield player Benoît Pedretti believes the French champions showed AC Milan too much respect in last week's UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg and insists they must play with more conviction at the San Siro on Tuesday.

Milan domination
Last season's finalists dominated the opening exchanges at the Stade Gerland as Lyon struggled to find the form that has kept them unbeaten at home in the UEFA Champions League for three-and-a-half years. Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf seized control of the midfield, creating a string of chances, and only some excellent goalkeeping from Grégory Coupet denied the Serie A side.

'We were poor'
Although the game finished goalless, Pedretti told uefa.com: "We were very poor early on. We played too deep and seemed happy to watch them play. If you do that against a side of their quality you don't get near the ball." Milan, six times European champions, were given a big build-up in the French press before the game, and the France international feels that may have affected Lyon's mindset. "An awful lot was written about Milan, but maybe they're not as good as everyone says.

'Skilful players'
"They weren't stronger than us in the first game and I don't expect them to be in the second. They've got very skilful players who are excellent when in possession, but they aren't so good when they don't have the ball. Once we settled we realised that and started to cause them problems."

Dida save
The French champions missed the presence of the suspended Juninho Pernambucano, even though his replacement Pedretti did his best to impersonate the influential Brazilian. The 25-year-old almost opened the scoring with a Juninho-esque free-kick but his inswinging effort was clawed away by Dida. "I played in Juninho's position but I'm not his direct replacement," Pedretti said. "I just played my own game and tried to perform well for the team."

'We looked dangerous'
Pedretti's attempt sparked something of a revival for Lyon, who slowly grew in confidence. "In the second half we were more like our normal selves," he continued. "We stopped giving them time on the ball and imposed our own rhythm. As soon as we began getting the ball forward early to Florent Malouda and Sylvain Wiltord, we looked dangerous. If we can put our attackers in good positions over there I'm convinced we can score."

Juninho boost
Lyon have not lost away from home in any competition since April last year and have scored at least one goal in every UEFA Champions League trip this campaign. They are also boosted by the return of Juninho, although another first-choice midfield player, Tiago, is now suspended, meaning that Pedretti is likely to play a pivotal role again.

High-profile move
Once regarded as a rising star of the French game, the graceful playmaker lost his way somewhat after a high-profile move from FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to Olympique de Marseille in 2004. He then struggled to make an impact during his first six months at Lyon and lost his place in the France squad, but in recent weeks has started to play regularly again.

Pedretti improvement
Pedretti's impressive passing game appears to be returning and so, perhaps most importantly, does his confidence. "My own performances aren't the most important thing at the moment," he insisted. "I'm pleased to be playing more and it's a pleasure to take part in massive games like the ones against Milan. But the most important thing is that Lyon qualify for the semi-finals. All I'm interested in for now is helping them to achieve that."