LYON COACH Claude Puel has labelled Barcelona “the best team in the world” ahead of tonight’s first-leg meeting in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Primera Liga leaders Barcelona have been installed as heavy favourites to go through. However, Puel believes his team have the ability to cause an upset but admits it is a tough ask to get the better of Barcelona over two legs.
“It’s the most difficult draw we could have faced, given that Barca is the best team in the world at the moment,” Puel said.
Barcelona were beaten 2-1 at home by neighbours Espanyol at the weekend and saw their lead at the top of the table cut to seven points as a result of second-placed Real Madrid’s 6-1 win over Real Betis.
Lyon, meanwhile, extended their cushion at the summit of Ligue 1 to six points thanks to their 2-0 victory at Nancy. They have won four of their last five league games and their confidence has flooded back after a sticky spell before the winter break.
Their backline has also improved since the start of the season, with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Cris proving an obdurate central defensive partnership.
Barcelona will be without France left-back Eric Abidal, who has been ruled out for at least two months with an adductor injury sustained against Espanyol.
Key Lyon players Karim Benzema, Juninho, Ederson and Fabio Grosso started on the bench against Nancy, with the first three coming on as second-half substitutes. They will all return to the starting line-up, as should winger Kader Keita, who was an unused substitute at the weekend.
The right-back position is still a major concern for Puel, with Anthony Reveillere and Francois Clerc still out with long-term knee injuries.
ATLÉTICO MADRID have made a successful return to the Champions League so far and, as they embark on the knockout rounds, will be hoping to avoid a repeat of their previous campaign 12 years ago, which ended in defeat in the first round after the group stage.
However, the Spanish club know they face a severe test in this all-Iberian contest with a visit from an FC Porto side who put Arsenal FC in the shade as they finished top of their group.
The Vicente Calderón Stadium has once again proved a daunting arena for opponents this season with Atlético winning two of their three home games and drawing the other. It means Atlético, beaten finalists in 1974, have only lost three of their 26 home games in the European Champion Clubs Cup with 19 wins and four draws.
One of those defeats ended their last campaign in Europe’s most prestigious club trophy, in 1996/97, when after a 1-1 draw away to Ajax in the quarter-finals, they went down 3-2 at home.
Porto’s qualification continues a trend because only once in the previous five campaigns have they failed to progress beyond the group stage. They will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the last two seasons, however, when in each case they exited the competition in the last 16. Twelve months ago they were beaten 4-1 on penalties by FC Schalke 04 at the Estádio do Dragão after a 1-1 draw over the two legs, and the previous year they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea.
A 2-0 home victory against Arsenal enabled the Portuguese champions to qualify as group winners. In their away games in Group G, they began badly with a 4-0 defeat at Arsenal but made amends with 2-1 triumphs at FC Dynamo Kyiv and Fenerbahçe SK.
They have won five of their last 10 away games in the competition.
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