Bordeaux boss Blanc refutes title talk

Laurent Blanc may be striving to play down talk of the title, but as his FC Girondins de Bordeaux side visit FC Lorient on Sunday on the back of four straight wins, many believe Olympique Lyonnais' six-year reign as French champions could be coming to an end.

Cavenaghi winner
Bordeaux struggled to overcome AS Saint-Etienne 1-0 on Thursday but Fernando Cavenaghi's 56th-minute strike was enough to seal victory and take them to within three points of the leaders. Bordeaux are undefeated since crashing 5-0 at SM Caen on 24 November, yet Blanc steadfastly refuses to admit they are capable of challenging Lyon. "We play all our games to win," Blanc said. "Sometimes everything goes to plan and we get the better of our opponents. Everyone says Bordeaux can challenge Lyon this season but then a lot of people say Lyon are superior to Bordeaux. That's what I have thought since the season began."

'Cup spirit'
Lyon travel to St-Etienne on Sunday with Les Verts seeking to win the derby for the first time since April 1994. "We don't prepare for this game any differently from the others, but we speak about it for longer," Lyon coach Alain Perrin said. The match will be played in a "cup spirit", added Perrin, who will be looking for his charges to build on Wednesday's 2-0 home victory over Lorient which ended a sequence of two defeats.

Tough times
The fixture calendar could yet favour Bordeaux. While they remain in the UEFA Cup, things may become even more complicated for Lyon by March. Bordeaux, boasting the best away record in Ligue 1, go to the Stade de Gerland four days after the second leg of Lyon's UEFA Champions League last-16 tie, at Manchester United FC. After playing Bordeaux, Lyon are then up against AS Monaco FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC, two sides coming into form.

Great strikers
Lyon will hope 14-goal Karim Benzema can continue his scoring exploits to keep them out of trouble, but with David Bellion hot on the heels of Ligue 1's leading scorer with eleven strikes, Bordeaux have a lethal weapon of their own. In addition, Cavenaghi is finding the sort of form that made him a favourite at former club CA River Plate. And with Ulrich Ramé solid in goal, Bordeaux are certainly in with their best shot at the title since 1999 – whatever Monsieur Blanc might say.