Lyon the sole losers as contenders gear up
Monday, March 9, 2009
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Olympique Lyonnais were the only team among the 16 preparing to conclude their UEFA Champions League ties to lose over the weekend as FC Bayern München registered just their second Bundesliga win of 2009.
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Olympique Lyonnais were the only team among the 16 who will conclude their UEFA Champions League first knockout round ties on Tuesday and Wednesday to lose over the weekend but FC Bayern München registered just their second Bundesliga win of 2009 in emphatic style.
Record crowd
Lyon were beaten 2-0 by LOSC Lille Métropole in front of 78,056 at the Stade de France, a record crowd for a French league match, and now lead Ligue 1 by a solitary point from Paris-Saint Germain FC. Bayern recovered from a goal down to put five past Hannover 96 while two of Spain's quartet of hopefuls, Real Madrid CF and Club Atlético de Madrid, drew their derby 1-1 ahead of their respective away legs. Liverpool FC, Madrid's opponents on Tuesday, were without a game due to their elimination from the FA Cup last month.
| FC Porto v Club Atlético de Madrid (current aggregate 2-2) |
| Leixões SC 1-4 FC Porto (Diogo Valente 89; Lucho 23pen, Hulk 49, Raul Meireles 57, Farías 76) Jesualdo Ferreira: "It was an excellent display which featured some very good moves. We are happy with our attacking play as we scored four times and missed several other chances. We also played well in the defence. Leixões were unable to halt our dominance. I have to praise my players after a match against a difficult team. It was a fair result that gives us confidence." |
| Real Madrid CF 1-1 Club Atlético de Madrid (Huntelaar 57; Forlán 38) Abel Resino: "On the one hand I'm leaving here happy because of the massive effort my team put in; we stood up to them throughout. Having said that, I'm left with a bittersweet taste in my mouth, one of defeat as we had so many chances. Because of the quality of players we have we were able to assert ourselves but it wasn't our day in front of goal unfortunately. That's football." |
| FC Barcelona v Olympique Lyonnais (1-1) |
| FC Barcelona 2-0 Athletic Club Bilbao (Busquets 18, Messi 32pen) Josep Guardiola: "This win helps us and gives the fans more faith in the team. We're back playing at a good level and I'd like to thank the squad for the daily effort they put in to achieve this. Against Mallorca [in the Copa del Rey semi-final, second leg] we weren't brilliant but we started to do the right things again and that helped us to play the type of game we played against Athletic. There's still a long way to go in this league and [our rivals] Madrid are strong." |
| LOSC Lille Métropole 2-0 Olympique Lyonnais (Vittek 60, Bastos 89) Claude Puel: "It was an interesting game because of the numerous chances in the second half. The players were committed to this game but we did not get our reward in the end. We've expended a lot of energy recently so we'll now recover and decide which players will travel to Barcelona considering we have several injuries." |
| AS Roma v Arsenal FC (0-1) |
| AS Roma 1-1 Udinese Calcio (Vučinić 61; Felipe 54) Marco Domenichini, Roma assistant coach: "We did not play well in the first half but we improved in the second and we went very close to winning despite finishing with ten men. We showed great character, especially in the final part of the game when we pushed hard. We are missing several players in midfield so let's hope we have Aquilani and Totti back against Arsenal." |
| Arsenal FC 3-0 Burnley FC (FA Cup fifth round) (Vela 25, Eduardo 51, Eboué 84) Arsène Wenger: "We did the job in a serious way. In the first half they made the job very difficult for us because they marked us tightly. We were tight defensively and we scored a goal. In the second half we scored brilliant goals. We could have had a few more but overall we did the job in a conscientious and serious way. Before going to Roma it is good that we didn't concede and we scored." |
| Manchester United FC v FC Internazionale Milano (0-0) |
| Fulham FC 0-4 Manchester United FC (FA Cup quarter-final) (Tévez 20 35, Rooney 50, Park 81) Sir Alex Ferguson: "Leaving out great players is not easy for me. They are all fit players who are bursting to play. I only hope at the end of the season they recognise everyone has made a great contribution." |
| Genoa CFC 0-2 FC Internazionale Milano (Ibrahimović 2, Balotelli 61) José Mourinho: "We played well both individually and as a team. We lost two defenders to injuries in the first half [Marco Materazzi and Nicolás Burdisso] and it was not easy, especially because I have a few players returning from injuries and I could make only one substitution in the final part of the game. Genoa are one of the best teams in Serie A and had not lost at home this season, so I think my players deserve great credit for this victory. [Esteban] Cambiasso played superbly when we were forced to play him in defence." |
| Liverpool FC v Real Madrid CF (1-0) |
| Liverpool FC - no game Rafael Benítez: "This week will be very important. You can talk about crucial games in the season, and these two [they also play Manchester United FC on Sunday] could make a very big difference. This week is very crucial." |
| Real Madrid CF 1-1 Club Atlético de Madrid (Huntelaar 57; Forlán 38) Juande Ramos: "The game was always open, both teams could have won. We could have taken the lead early on. Arjen Robben, Marcelo and others had chances and the game would have been very different if they had scored. Atlético could have won with their counterattacks. The necessity to win a game forces you to attack. We've been able to reduce the gap to Barcelona by eight points in just a couple of weeks, so we can do the same now that the distance between us is six points. The difference is just two games. There are 12 matches left in the Liga but we must now concentrate on our game at Anfield. It will be a tough and thrilling encounter and my men are anxious to make the fans happy." |
| Juventus v Chelsea FC (0-1) |
| Torino FC 0-1 Juventus (Chiellini 80) Claudio Ranieri: "It was important to win, we were more dangerous than Torino. I think we deserved the three points. I decided to rest some players today because nobody can play every game at a high level. Now we can focus on Tuesday's game against Chelsea – we are ready. They are the favourites but we count on our supporters." |
| Coventry City FC 0-2 Chelsea FC (FA Cup quarter-final) (Drogba 15, Alex 72) Guus Hiddink: "Didier [Drogba] is dangerous. He is working very hard and he is good for the team. There are still some little things that he needs to improve on, but he is working on them in sessions outside of training which he likes." |
| Panathinaikos FC v Villarreal CF (1-1) |
| Panathinaikos FC 3-0 Larissa FC (Salpingidis 48, Gilberto 53, Hristodoulopoulos 56) Henk ten Cate: "We won three points and we gained in confidence. The fact that we usually play better in the second half is perhaps a sign of our good physical condition. On Tuesday, if we remain disciplined on the pitch and focus on our tactics, we have a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals. I understand the fans' frustration following our performance in the Greek Cup, we are also disappointed, but that's football; one week you're the worst, the next week you're the best." |
| Villarreal CF 1-0 RCD Espanyol (Fuentes 20) Rubén Cousillas, Villarreal assistant coach: "From the very start we went out fighting for the win and so I feel the result tonight is a fair one. Both sides had their chances to score but they pressed a lot and created more opportunities. I'm not surprised by the way [Espanyol] played tonight but I am surpsrised by the position they are in in the table." |
| FC Bayern München v Sporting Clube de Portugal (5-0) |
| FC Bayern München 5-1 Hannover 96 (Van Buyten 20, Klose 25, Altıntop 34, Podolski 73, Demichelis 89; Štajner 15) Jürgen Klinsmann: "The result is a deserved one, even by this margin. The team can drive home with having received compliments from me. We forced this win today. Looking at the table is more pleasant now, but we still have a lot of work to do in the time being to become champions." |
| Sporting Clube de Portugal 2-0 FC Paços de Ferreira (Liedson 8, Derlei 34) Paulo Bento: "The early lead allowed us to relax and control the game. We managed to do that but we continue to miss a lot of the chances we create. It was a fair result but we could have scored one or two more goals. We have to wait for our opponents to slip up [to go top of the Liga] but we still believe it's possible. There is still 90 minutes to play [against Bayern] and we have to correct our mistakes from the first leg. Above all, we have our pride and our dignity." |
