Ben Arfa believes in Lyon

Olympique Lyonnais forward Hatem Ben Arfa declared himself "optimistic" that the French title-holders will qualify for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League after scoring two goals in Wednesday's thrilling 4-2 win against VfB Stuttgart.

Brilliant third
The 20-year-old Frenchman opened his European account with a deflected shot on six minutes as Lyon seized an early grip on the contest. Kim Källström soon added a second but the hosts struggled to finish off their stubborn German opponents who hit back through Mario Gómez before Ben Arfa added a brilliant third. That strike ultimately proved decisive as Gómez scored again after the break and Thomas Hitzlsperger missed a penalty, allowing Lyon to clinch victory in style with Juninho Pernambucano's late effort.

'Ideal scenario'
The win takes Alain Perrin's men to within a point of Rangers FC, who were beaten 2-0 by Group E leaders FC Barcelona, and Ben Arfa feels they are right back in contention. "We had a bit of a fright but luckily Rémy Vercoutre was in great form. His penalty save gave us all a lift and enabled us to keep fighting and get the three points," he told uefa.com. "Rangers lost as well so it's the ideal scenario for us. We feel relieved right now because the end was very stressful, with Stuttgart pressing all the time, but we got the result we needed and now I'm optimistic we will go through."

Exceptional form
Ben Arfa, whose exceptional form has played a crucial role in Lyon's revival both domestically and in Europe, played down the importance of scoring, saying: "I'm pleased to have opened my account in the Champions League but it doesn't matter so much. Winning is all that matters." Nevertheless, the youth-team graduate expressed satisfaction at his second strike, a fizzing shot into the top corner after leaving his marker Ludovic Magnin for dead: "I might watch that on television later tonight - it was one of the best I've scored. I remember getting the ball from Sidney Govou and thinking that it was a good opportunity for me to run at my man. When I got past him I took aim for the top corner and it worked out perfectly."

'Exciting night'
Källström's goal was almost as spectacular but the Swedish international acknowledged that Lyon still have much work to do. "We started with two losses and have shown good character to pick ourselves up and get two wins," he said. "If we can beat Barcelona and make sure we are still in contention for the final match against Rangers, then it might be a really exciting night in Glasgow. That's our aim but we know we do not have a lot of margin for error."