Anderlecht vs. Lyon

By: Inara | August 24th, 2009

Tomorrow, Lyon will be facing off against Anderlecht again for the second leg of the final round of Champions League qualification. Lyon have pretty much assured themselves of a spot in the group stages, thanks to their demolishing Anderlecht last week in France, but it’s a stretch to say that the Belgians have nothing to play for. While their chances of a comeback are small, weirder things have happened in football, and they’ll be playing in front of their home crowd. So Lyon will have to take tomorrow’s game at least somewhat seriously if they want to keep their European hopes alive.

August 25, 2009
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels
2:45 ET (20:45 CET)

Match background:

I already wrote up a brief overview of Anderlecht in last week’s preview, so I’m going to skip all that. The only thing to report is that they beat Zulte Waregem 2-0 away in their domestic league this past weekend. Something else to keep in mind is that Anderlecht have never lost at home to French opposition, having managed four wins and three draws in previous encounters. Lyon was one of those teams that walked away with a 1-0 loss, back in the 2003/2004 group stages.

Even so, those statistics aren’t particularly daunting when you consider how difficult it would be for Anderlecht to overcome their performance in the first leg. They’d need to win by at least four goals since they managed to score an away goal at the Gerland. However, I can’t see that happening. It’s been a really long time since Lyon have lost by four goals to anyone.

That being said, I can see Lyon walking away with a draw or even a 1-0 loss, if only because Puel would rather rest certain key players than risk injury. But only a really embarrassing defeat will keep Lyon from progressing to the next round. And judging from their performance last weekend against Auxerre, even the B team is primed for another victory. The squad is gelling together rather well, and the players are finally emerging out of their awkward pre-season form. So let’s hope that they continue their progression tomorrow.

Team news:

Anderlecht not only has injuries to contend with but suspensions as well. Jelle Van Damme will miss tomorrow’s match thanks to yellow card accumulation, while another three are one card away from missing their next match (though I don’t know how much that would matter, assuming that cards from the qualification stages get wiped clean before the CL/Europa league group stages. Additionally, Daniel Zítka, Sébastien Bruzzese, Jonathan Legear, and Nicolas Frutos will also miss tomorrow’s match due to various injuries.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Cris, Bodmer, Boumsong, Réveillère, Cissokho, Clerc, Grosso – Toulalan, Källström, Gonalons, Makoun, Pjanic, Delgado – Mounier, Belfodil, Tafer, Bastos, Gomis, Lisandro

As you can see, John Mensah is still not included on the list (no doubt due to his impending transfer). But if that is the reason, strange to see Fabio Grosso on the list as well…Cleber Anderson and Sidney Govou are still out, as is Ederson, who picked up a slight ankle injury. The good news is that Lisandro Lopez and Francois Clerc are well again – for a while it was rumored that they would miss tomorrow’s match due to injury.

The big difference from last week is that Puel included quite a few of the youth players. Maxime Gonalons, Ishak Belfodil, and Yannis Tafer will be hoping to make their Champions League debuts, and if Lyon play really well tomorrow, one of them may even end up getting their wish.

Expected lineup:

Sometimes I think that I shouldn’t even bother with guessing the lineup. Puel is a lot harder to predict that Alain Perrin and Gerrard Houllier. It’s not even because Puel is amazingly creative or tactically brilliant – instead, he just ignores the obvious solution sometimes, which can get really frustrating.

So this time, I’m going to skip over writing out an actual lineup and instead state my thoughts on the players. First, it seems likely that Anthony Reveillere will get to start as RB. Even though he played the last two games, Francois Clerc is getting off an injury and might be rusty. Plus Reveillere’s form has been really good recently, so it’s not like Puel has anything to complain about. Aly Cissokho, who was rested this past weekend, is sure to start as LB (this also leaves Fabio Grosso conveniently free of being cup-tied). Cris was also rested against Auxerre, so expect to see him start. It’s a tossup over Mathieu Bodmer and Jean-Alain Boumsong. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I prefer Boumsong.

In midfield, it would be the logical thing for Puel to rest Jeremy Toulalan, but there is an unwritten law in French football that Toulalan is allowed no rest (possibly because he doesn’t need it since he’s a three-lunged machine). I can also see Puel starting Jean II Makoun. Two DMs are wholly unnecessary, but if he’s going to have two of them play against Auxerre, he’ll most likely do the same against Anderlecht. Assuming Makoun and Toulalan start, I’d guess that Kim Kallstrom will complete the midfield triangle. He was rested this weekend also whereas Miralem Pjanic played the entirety of the past two games.

Up front, it’ll be Bafetimbi Gomis, Michel Bastos, and Lisandro Lopez. I can’t imagine the front line any other way.

Viewing options:

Setanta will be broadcasting this match, and unlike last week, this time the game will be available in the US. Go to this website for streams, or if you are interested in stability and ease of access, you can buy a stream from UEFA.com for $10. You can also follow along on Lyon’s official match tracker.

And please share if you find a working link!

Expected result:

I have a feeling it’ll be a 1-1 draw. Neither team seems particularly motivated.