'It's looking good for Lyon'

Patrick Müller may have not have been selected among Gérard Houllier's starting XI for the trip to Real Madrid CF on Matchday 5 but that did not diminish the Olympique Lyonnais defender's statisfaction at seeing his side come away from the Santiago Bernabéu with the point they needed to clinch top spot in Group E of the UEFA Champions League. Here in the first of a new series of diary pieces for uefa.com, the Swiss international looks back on another important night in the Spanish capital for the French champions.

'Impressive'
"On a personal level, I really enjoyed watching our 2-2 draw with Real Madrid from the bench: we played well and caused them all sorts of problems. To go 2-0 up there was very pleasing. It was the first time I'd been to the Bernabéu. The day before the game when we trained on the pitch, I was taken aback. During my career I've had the opportunity to go to Milan, Barcelona, Valencia and a few other grounds, but the Bernabéu is one of the most impressive. The dug-outs in the Bernabéu are pretty low down, and they're also heated, which makes getting out of them that bit more difficult.

Coupet save
"Sitting there, I had a good view of the late Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and I wasn't surprised that Grégory Coupet saved it. I've seen a lot of Van Nistelrooy's penalties, and I think that Grégory knew where he was going to place it. He saved it well, which was just as well. It wouldn't have been fair to leave the Bernabéu with nothing. Our objective was get a draw at the least, and to secure first place in the group. We managed to do that, and we could have won.

Carew shines
"Our other 'Man of the Match', John Carew, was last into the changing-room after the game. I'm not sure whether he was talking to some Madrid players or not, but we were all aware of how well he had played. He had a terrific night. He put a lot of pressure on their defence, he gave them a tough night. When he is on form like that, and taking risks in that way, he is nearly unstoppable. I think he knew how well he had done. I think that everybody was happy for him. He has had a difficult time, with injuries and some games where things haven't gone as well as planned. It's what everyone dreams of, when you have a bad period, to come back and show people that you're capable of performing, and that's what he did in Madrid.

Diarra reunion
"I didn't have much contact with the Madrid players, but I had a brief chat with 'Djila', our former team-mate Mahamadou Diarra after the game. He was quite pleased not to have lost for a second time against OLyon I think both teams were pleased. On the final whistle I went on to the pitch and bumped into Van Nistelrooy, who shook my hand, which was nice of him. All in all, it was a good night in Madrid. It's a great a city and I'd love to live there. Barcelona, Mallorca and Seville are all places where I'd like to live. Over there, people are nice, they seem more open, they like to have a good time and enjoy going out. The climate and the food are good as well, there are a lot of positive things to life there. But now we are just happy that we have qualified in first place in the group. We'll just have to wait and see how far Lyon can go in this season's Champions League, but so far it's looking quite good."

AC Milan midfielder Kaká and AFC Ajax defender Zdeněk Grygera will also be contributing diaries to uefa.com as the season progresses.