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23.02.2009 11:14
Benzema: “We’ve got a chance”
Berta Brau
The French striker and his team-mates know they have a tough tie ahead of them against what they see as “the best team around at the moment”.
In exclusive interviews with Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat three Olympique Lyon players have talked about their Champions League quarter-final clash with Barça. Karim Benzema, Mathieu Bodmer and Jean-Alain Boumsong all say the same: “It’ll be hard but we’ve got a chance of getting a result”.
Best team at the moment
“We’re up against the world’s best team with some of the best players,” said Boumsong as Benzema nodded in agreement. Bodmer chipped in to highlight “the incredible things Barça are doing this season in the Champions League”.
Barça are favourites
The Lyon trio do not mind admitting that Barça are a step above the rest
and “it’s hard to find a weak point there” as Bodmer puts it. Boumsong is of the
same mind: “Barcelona is a bigger club than Lyon and our goal is to reach their level and to
do that we need to play teams at this level”.
No pressure
The fact that Barça are the favourites means Lyon will be under no pressure. “What have we got to lose against Barça?” asked Boumsong. The answer came from Bodmer: “If we win it’ll be amazing, if we lose everyone’ll say that was bound to happen as they’re better than us”. They know that Lyon needs to be positive since, as Bodmer points out, “you never know what might happen in a game”.
Main weapons
Midfielder Mathieu Bodmer says both teams have a similar
philosophy: “Our main weapons are defensive solidity as we don’t concede many and then
we have players like Juninho and Benzema who can turn a game. As for Barça, they’ve got great
players who defend a lot and when they get the ball they almost never lose it. Then up front they
have people like Henry, Eto'o and Messi who make it easy to score every Saturday”.
“Pull together”
Jean-Alain Boumsong knows what Lyon have to do to beat Barça: “You need to pull together”. The explanation is simple: “No-one in a side can win all their battles against Barça’s players as they have so much ability that at some stage they’ll beat you. So you need to work as a team and have someone there to help”.
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Juninho: “They deserve all the praise they get”
Juninho Pernambukano, one of the key players in the French outfit, was also full of praise for
Barça at his press conference last week: “They’ve shown how good they are this season
and they are the standout team. I haven’t seen another side like them and they deserve all
the praise they get”.
Juninho said that “it’s a big ask as if Barça play the way they can beating them will be tough”. Yet the Brazilian still believes Lyon can do it: “If we play as well as we can then I reckon we are in with a chance of winning. You have to make sure you keep them out and then find your own attackers”.
Juninho said that “it’s a big ask as if Barça play the way they can beating them will be tough”. Yet the Brazilian still believes Lyon can do it: “If we play as well as we can then I reckon we are in with a chance of winning. You have to make sure you keep them out and then find your own attackers”.
