photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

Lyon goes into the their second leg with Bordeaux up 3-1.  In aggregate scoring that’s a serious pain the butt to overcome.  In fact, it’s really hard to imagine any team being able to make up 3 goals while not allowing their opponent to score at all.  However, since Lyon played so well in the first leg it might be easy to forget that:

1.  Bordeaux has led Ligue 1 ALL year

2.  Lyon was SUPPOSED to lead Ligue 1 all year and didn’t.

What if there is just a tinge of “we can’t do this–why are we here?” in the boys from Lyon.  Would that cause them to surrender a massive amount of goals in a game that really just requires a scoreless tie from them?  Bordeaux’s Cedric Carrasso has the right idea in this area:

”We must stop feeling sorry for ourselves or going over these defeats.”

”We must only think of what we may be able to achieve against Lyon. If we play differently, maybe we deserve different results.”

”I have enormous confidence in the team. We must stick to our principles, but also be ready to battle.”

”We only have to score two goals without conceding and we have done this many times. We can score in the 88th and 90th minutes from two set-pieces, or we can score four goals in a half.”

”We just have to rediscover a bit of confidence and calmness and enter the field with the bit between our teeth.”

They know over in Bordeaux that nothing stopped them from beating Lyon but themselves–that’s pretty impressive.  Can they get out of their own way?  Probably.  Will they be able to score enough times to make this interesting?  Probably?  Will they take the set?

No.  Lyon got too far out in front and Bordeaux has too much weighing against them.

Lyon advances.