Jean II Makoun scored a fantastic goal two minutes into the second half as Lyon beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League game.
“It’s a good result, but we can have a few regrets as we could have scored a second goal,” Lyon coach Claude Puel said. “It was a great performance from us, with a lot of intensity. We were well organized and physical. We had to raise our game collectively and individually and we did that.”
This is the third successive win at home for Lyon over Madrid in the Champions League, with Madrid still unable to score in France.
“It was a very physical match, Lyon played with a lot of passion and they covered the ground well and marked us very well,” Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “The result is not good for us, we’ve conceded a goal without scoring. We will need a very disciplined performance to turn this round, but I have faith in my players.”
Lyon created most of the game’s chances, César Delgado rattling the woodwork in the first half, and after Makoun’s 47th-minute strike both Aly Cissokho and Lisandro went close to adding a second. Madrid will be confident of turning the tie around at the Bernabeu on 10 March, though the nine-time European champions must do so without Marcelo and Xabi Alonso, who are both suspended after picking up bookings.
