Bordeaux, Lyon boost France
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRANCE is back on the big stage with two teams in the Champions League last eight for the first time since 2004 after Girondins Bordeaux beat Olympiakos Piraeus and Olympique Lyon shocked Real Madrid.
"Now we are among the big guns in Europe," Bordeaux President Nicolas de Tavernost told the French sports daily L'Equipe yesterday, the day after his side defeated Olympiakos 2-1 for a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
Coach Laurent Blanc agreed with his president but said France needed to cement its position among the elite over a period of time. "You can think that because of the teams now qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals and those doing well in the Europa League, this proves that French football is in good shape," said Blanc.
"But to affirm this we will have to see how this develops over time."
No French team has won the Champions League since Marseille defeated AC Milan 1-0 in the 1993 final.
Lyon was given a tough task when it drew Real in the last 16 but it knocked out the nine-time European champion last week, snatching a 1-1 draw in Madrid after winning the first leg 1-0.
France has two teams in the last eight, as many as England, and one more than Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia.
Bordeaux and Lyon have leaned heavily on their world-class performers, with France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff back to his brilliant best for Bordeaux and Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez a huge motivator for Lyon.
Gourcuff's delicate turns and a whipped free kick for a fifth-minute goal reminded everyone why he has been compared to Zinedine Zidane.
"Now we are among the big guns in Europe," Bordeaux President Nicolas de Tavernost told the French sports daily L'Equipe yesterday, the day after his side defeated Olympiakos 2-1 for a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
Coach Laurent Blanc agreed with his president but said France needed to cement its position among the elite over a period of time. "You can think that because of the teams now qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals and those doing well in the Europa League, this proves that French football is in good shape," said Blanc.
"But to affirm this we will have to see how this develops over time."
No French team has won the Champions League since Marseille defeated AC Milan 1-0 in the 1993 final.
Lyon was given a tough task when it drew Real in the last 16 but it knocked out the nine-time European champion last week, snatching a 1-1 draw in Madrid after winning the first leg 1-0.
France has two teams in the last eight, as many as England, and one more than Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia.
Bordeaux and Lyon have leaned heavily on their world-class performers, with France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff back to his brilliant best for Bordeaux and Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez a huge motivator for Lyon.
Gourcuff's delicate turns and a whipped free kick for a fifth-minute goal reminded everyone why he has been compared to Zinedine Zidane.
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