Bordeaux find reason to believe

FC Girondins de Bordeaux goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso believes the first all-French UEFA Champions League contest remains finely balanced despite Olympique Lyonnais securing a 3-1 first-leg triumph in Tuesday's quarter-final at Stade de Gerland.

There was little to choose between the sides during an enthralling encounter that produced goalscoring opportunities aplenty. Unfortunately for Laurent Blanc's charges, Lyon proved the more clinical team, with Lisandro and Michel Bastos punishing defensive lapses in the first half before the Argentinian striker added another goal from the penalty spot after 77 minutes.

Although Marouane Chamakh registered a potentially crucial away strike, Les Girondins failed to capitalise on several more excellent chances, leaving themselves with much work to do in the second leg next Wednesday. Carrasso was frustrated by the scoreline having seen the visitors create so many openings. "It was a strange game," he told UEFA.com. "It was exciting and we played quite well but we just didn't have luck in front of goal."

There was certainly no sign of resignation in the Bordeaux ranks, however, with Carrasso pointing to the French title-holders' perfect home record in this season's competition as a good reason to believe. "We still feel we have a chance," the 27-year-old said. "We know we can beat anybody at home. If we score the first goal at home then all of the sudden the pressure will shift to their camp."

Many had predicted a tight, tactical affair between two teams renowned for their strong defending but the reality proved very different. For once, Les Marine et Blanc, who had conceded just three goals in their eight previous European outings, committed costly errors, with headers from Michaël Ciani and Benoît Trémoulinas leading to OL's first two goals. Carrasso put those mistakes down to a lack of European experience. "We made two mistakes because the players weren't calm enough at the back. We still lack experience at this level and that showed."

Aside from his miscued clearance that led to Michel Bastos's 32nd-minute goal, left-back Tremoulinas produced another fine performance, raiding up the wing at every opportunity and supplying a string of fine crosses. The youth-team graduate refused to dwell on his slip and is already looking forward to the second leg. "These things can happen," he told UEFA.com. "We didn't make the mistakes on purpose. I felt we developed our game well, creating some good chances. Marouane went close a few times, Hugo Lloris made some great saves and Wendel hit the crossbar. If we improve a bit at the back, we have a good chance of scoring the goals we need to go through."