Round of 16: Who do you want to face?
By: Inara | December 19th, 2007For the first time in five years, Lyon are runners-up going into the Champions League knockout rounds. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. For a while I doubted we’d even get the UEFA Cup spot. But Lyon overcame their poor start, and now here we are.
The draw will be held in Nyon on Friday, December 21st (6 AM eastern time!). You can watch it live on uefa.com. We can be drawn against any group winner except Barcelona. Last year, I was a nervous wreck when the draw took place, but this year I’m more relaxed about it. I have faith in our squad, and I’m trying to have faith in Alain Perrin. No doubt Lyon will have a fight on their hands to qualify for the quarterfinals, but we’ve earned our place amongst Europe’s elite. The Champions League is where we belong.
Group winners: FC Porto, Chelsea FC, Real Madrid CF, AC Milan, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, FC Internazionale Milano, Sevilla FC
Group runners-up: Liverpool FC, FC Schalke 04, Olympiacos CFP, Celtic FC, Olympique Lyonnais, AS Roma, Fenerbahçe SK, Arsenal FC
But until the draw, I thought we could have our own poll just for fun. Who would you like to see Lyon face? There aren’t any small teams for us this time, not unless you count Sevilla and Porto (which I don’t). Maybe a big gun, like AC Milan?
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since i live in the U.S., i get throw miracle stories of the underdog beating the Juggernaut all the time, so i usually ignore such things. But in Lyon’s case i would make an exception. In my opinion ( which doesn’t weight much,lol ) i would like to draw Inter Milan. I want the best team in the competition right off the bat. 1 – for showcasing reason, inter have a glutton of media attention at the moment, we would share the spotlight during the matches and young footballing prospects could watch us and have a sense of the hardnosed-yet-beautiful football we play ( and would sign with us in the future). 2 – comparison of skill, inter have quality amount of players ( also nicknamed the Argentina team ) playing at the peak of their potential and i want to see how lyon respond to that. 3 – Italian factor, wouldn’t it be great to get revenge on the Italians (not meant to be a racial comment ), for beating us the past few times, not only that but to get revenge by beating the BEST team in their league at the moment.
Posted from
United States
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^ agree.
OL should haven’t the “small team mentality” and be scared to play a bigger team. Maybe we don’t have expensive signings but that’s not an excuse. I’m tired of hearing that the Champions League is all about money and luck. Look at Nancy in Ligue 1 this season. They don’t have either and still they are only four points off of Lyon and have a better defense and the second best attack. Their situation in Ligue 1 is similar to ours in the Champions League.
If we want to be great, we have to do it our way, and that is to outplay our opponents. Or else we don’t belong in Europe.
So I’m with Ronald. Bring on Inter Milan!
PS: we defeated them a few years back in a Champions League qualifier, and they kicked us out of the UEFA Cup in the late 90’s. So the match would also be interesting from a historical perspective.
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United States -
also, i’ve noticed that alot of people are picking Manchester United. For some reason i DONT LIKE THE IDEA…….AT ALL. Something about Paul Scholes ( as far footballing ability ) doesnt sit well with me (………difference maker ). And plus the British tabloid would have a field day, bringing in the points of how Ser Alex ( i spelled it wrong on purpose ) wants Karim Benzema, and how Manchester playing lyon would be an on pitch trial of how Benzema would play for manchester, or like how the days are counting down of Benzema’s departure ( noooooo, you cant have him england, hes ours). i just think that would be a complete distraction, cause the british tabloid blows everything out of proportion.
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United States -
It’s true, Lyon can and should be able to face any of those teams. But I wouldn’t mind if it Lyon’s knockout round adventure was a little bit less stressful than their group stage adventure.
Ronald, I’m with you 100%. I’m not scared of Manchester United because of playing reasons. I just hate how Alex Ferguson uses games to scout and buy players. He already has a hard on for Benzema. And he did try to get Ben Arfa two years back. The last thing he needs to do is see Toulalan and take him too.
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United States -
Chelsea. We will eat alive those bastards
Posted from
United States -
If it was possible, I wish we could have drawn Barca again. That would have been fun.
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United States -
Jordo: i wouldnt mind facing chelsea either. Chelsea have proven time and time again that they crumble when facing strong willed teams ( i wouldnt really call this an argument , but ehh it works ) plus they are without Drogba, who is like the soul of the team. Without him, there like the Headless Horsemen – there dangerous, but they cant seem to be on the right path and get taken down by the couragous and Bad ass hero ( ive been watching too many horror films ).
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United States -
Drogba’s currently 50-50 for playing in the African Cup in January so there’s a decent chance he’ll be back for the CL knockout stage. He may be out of form though.
Theres quite a decent chance that Lyon draw Chelsea or ManU, neither of the teams can face Liverpool or Arsenal nor their groups 2nd place finishers, so each has a 1 in 5 shot of drawing Lyon.Posted from
Australia -
I can see Lyon beating anybody but Sevilla and Porto. If they draw those teams, they’ll go home. So I’m hoping Inter Milan. That’ would be an italian side and san Siro but you’d still get through
Posted from
France -
That’s what I think too! I can’t remember where I said it, but I said that Lyon would have the worst time against Sevilla and Porto, partly because I feel like Lyon won’t take them as seriously (like what happened with Roma last year), and partly because Kanoute will probably score a hat trick against us. And Porto is a very good team though underrated. At least with big teams you know they are sometimes overrated.
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United States -
i was probably one of those 15 people that voted for United. basically because i just want to make c. ronaldo cry.
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United States -
I just hope we won’t get Manchester United or Real Madrid, all the other teams look like decent opponents. ManU has a very young and talented team capable of hammering anyone out there, and Real Madrid, well, I simply fear that their revenge would be so sweet… (for them, of course!)
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United States -
Lefutur, me too. I had no problems with him until he did that stupid facial expression after he scored from a free kick against Sporting a few weeks ago. What a jackass.
Nicolas, I agree, I think Real Madrid is probably tired of getting bitch slapped by Lyon on a yearly basis. Plus they are actually playing like a team now. Man, I miss the galacticos.
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United States -
Id prefer Milan. They have a good team of course, but they have hardly played well this season in Serie A, and despite a walk in the Club World Cup (who cares?), they might be the easiest team to beat. Porto is not as strong as they were three years ago. Avoiding Inter and Man U is the ket, Sevilla would be a great match, I think Sevilla are banking on a good run in the CL to kick start their domestic season, but they may be the pick of the litter for an easy tie despite their great style and potent attack.
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United States -
And Real was a team last year, and they are this year. I wouldnt want Lyon to play them, because sadly, they would go down. Real know how to handle Lyon, their is no big surprise there, Lyon are better off building up the confidence against a Chelsea, Sevilla or Porto.
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United States -
Corey, Milan planned this season their own way. Thay wanted to be in top shape for the Club World Cup. BUt they’ll be sprinting to get to the first four spots like last year. You don’t want this many trophies and this much experience facing you, EVer. And if they play chelsea, with Drogba, Malouda, Essien and all, they’ll lose.
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France -
Inter is in top form, while Man U is too. Real is always dangerous, and Porto is always the upset waiting to happen. Chelsea look weak, even with all of the “stars”. Sevilla is my preferred tie, but if drew Milan or Chelsea I would be confident in a result. There will be no easy draws, but Milan and Chelsea are the least effective team right now out of all of them. But the draw takes place tomorrow, and after the break a teams momentum will change, so I suppose an anylsis of which time will falter in the new year is more pertinent to picking a favored opponent?
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United States -
I would like to see lyon play AC milan. Yer to some peole it might seem weird wanting to face a team with kaka in but just look where they are in serie a. 11th i believe and lyons good home form and there poor home form could see are youngsters leaving there 30s+ out of breath.Plus if celtic can beat them we definately can!
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United States -
Porto is the easiest draw IMO.
And I disagree with the “bring the big teams” mentality.
Lyon needs to avoid injuries, cards, etc…
Let Liverpool, Roma or Arsenal try to eliminate Milan, Barca or ManU.
Let them eliminate themselves a little and have a somewhat easier round.
The, when they’re mentally tired (maybe physically, but that’s another matter), when some players are suspended because it was a tight series, when they feel over confident from facing “only” Lyon after beating more of a favourite, then and just then, kick their asses and go for the Cup.So yes, let’s all hope Lyon draws Porto.
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United States -
dont forget with porto
-quaresma-[who we should try to buy to replace govou]
-lucho gonzalez
-bosingwa
-bruno alves
-raul mireiles
-lisandro lopes
-adriano
-postigathere not easy
Posted from
United States -
although i would love to beat a chelsea team with malouda in
Posted from
United States -
chelsea. the only two teams OL has never faced are seville and chelsea, so it would be nice to get one of them.
it would be nice to see freddie kanouté back in gerland, but not as much as malouda and essien.chelsea has quite a few players who may go far in the CAN (kalou, drogba, essien, mikel) but that ends on the 10th, so it’s not like they’ll still be tuckered out 2 weeks later.
they have the highest prestige/real quality ratio too… beating them would give us more credit than due. porto or seville would be thankless jobs, inter and MU would be the toughest nuts to crack.
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France -
quaresma to replace govou????
call me a doddering old fart but i can’t fathom what all you youngsters see in that whippersnapper quaresma. and comparing him to govou you fall right into my lap.
my son has tried to convince me that quaresma is the greatest thing since c. ronaldo (you see, they go way back, the Q fan club…) but the “amazing” youtube compilations he shows me are 90% comprised of 5-second clips of schoolyard tricks, with no indication of what they resulted in… which was most certainly nothing. there are half a dozen nice crosses and a few strong shots, always the same ones; i could almost say almost the same ONE… the crosses all “au cordeau” and all the shots off the outside of his left foot. looks pretty one-trick-pony to me.
now i’ve seen this quaresma fellow play on 2 or 3 occasions and was singularly unimpressed. all that fancy footwork, only to be dispossessed by… bonnart???
and though kilometers covered is not as important a stat as all that, i think he could make an effort in this direction: watching the match i my living room, getting up once for my slippers and once for the WC, plus kissing the tykes goodnight at halftime i covered about as much ground as he did over those 90 minutes… he spends almost the whole game in a rectangle extending from the left corner flag to the edge of the penalty area, and stretching back to about 10 yards from the midfield stripe. at one point he trots over to spend 5 minutes in the identical zone on the right. and since the teams change sides at haltime, you can legitimately say he’s been to all four corners of the field… so in that way you can compare him to sidney!
Posted from
France -
LYON PICKS MANCHESTER!!!
Posted from
Luxembourg -
Guig, I agree that Quaresma is not worth the money Porto will ask for him, but you said one thing that made me laugh. “all that fancy footwork only to be dispossessed by Bonnart”, were you speaking of Quaresma or Govou, because we all know Sidney is just as liable for that as Quaresma is.
Posted from
United States
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