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Not quite a feast of football in tasty Lyon
It was my first trip to Lyon to see Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid and though I knew what to expect on the field given the Spanish side’s troubles here in the past, I had no idea what the city or its famed cuisine would be like.
In the end, the food in one of France’s gastronomic centres probably outshone the fare on the pitch although it was a decent game with both sides fighting for every ball in the cold and the rain.
Karim Benzema’s goal against his former club 43 seconds after coming on as a substitute added a bit of spice and Bafetimbi Gomis’s 83rd minute equaliser for Lyon means the last 16 second leg at the Bernabeu on March 16 is nicely simmering.
But nothing could quite compare to the culinary delights of Lyon’s bistrots and brasseries. Pistachioed sausages, calf’s head, a floating island of meringue on custard with pink pralines and the simply majestic “Andouillette Maison Ravier avec Sauce Moutarde a L’Ancienne” (which OK is effectively tripe.)
The city itself was probably a 1-1 draw between the beautiful old town, with narrow streets and quaint squares, and the slightly bizarre outer ring with garish modern architecture and a lack of town planning. (Note to self for next time. When booking what appears to be the closest hotel to the stadium, check there is actually a bridge nearby to cross the river.)
The Stade de Gerland was also not what I expected for the home of one of France’s powerhouses. It was slightly rundown but with an intriguing Roman feel with columns outside and big stone steps leading up to the stands.
It is easy to forget that Olympique Lyon are a provincial club who had never won a French league title before sealing seven in a row from 2002.
Who will be Mourinho’s Milito this year?
Should Real Madrid have stepped in and taken Zlatan Ibrahimovic off Barcelona’s hands instead of AC Milan?
Perhaps a preposterous idea, but after the opening round of matches in La Liga, Real may be concerned they did not heed coach Jose Mourinho’s warnings about the need for a third striker.
Mourinho’s league debut ended with an uninspiring 0-0 draw away to Real Mallorca on Sunday, which was in sharp contrast to Barcelona’s supremely confident 3-0 victory at Racing Santander.
Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain, Real’s top scorer last season, led the line and blew the best of his side’s chances, perpetuating the idea that he is sometimes profligate in front of goal.
Karim Benzema did little to change the story when he came on as a substitute. The France striker still has much to prove at the Bernabeu after a discrete first season in Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo huffed and puffed, and shot when perhaps he could have passed, but Mourinho has already said he doesn’t want to play his Portuguese compatriot as a number nine.
All the Euro 2012 qualifying Games will be streamed live at http://www.WorldCupTV.org 12:21
Play Fantasy Football manager with Real’s Pellegrini
Real Madrid’s 250 million euros spending spree has left new coach Manuel Pellegrini with the kind of headache most managers could only dream of.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa, Esteban Granero and Ezequiel Garay have all been added to a squad that finished second in the league under Juande Ramos last year.
Pellegrini has made the most of pre-season friendlies to experiment with players and lineups, and they have lost only once in their eight warm up games, against Juventus in the Peace Cup. They have netted 22 goals, and conceded just six.
But with only a week to go until Deportivo Coruna visit the Bernabeu for their opening game of the new Primera Liga campaign, the Chilean has yet to make it clear what his best starting 11 will be, and what formation he will play.
There is no debate over the position of goalkeeper, so Iker Casillas is easy to put first on the team sheet.
In defence he can pick from Garay, Arbeloa, Albiol, Pepe, Christoph Metzelder, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Miguel Torres. Royston Drenthe has performed well at fullback in the last couple of matches.
Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso will be guaranteed a place in midfield which leaves perhaps Lassana Diarra as the fourth component of a traditional 4-4-2. Arjen Robben and Granero have impressed in pre-season games while Fernando Gago, Guti, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Mahamadou Diarra wait in the wings.
casillas
ramos albiol pepe drente
(arbelola)
ronaldo l.diarra alonso kaka
(van der vaart)
benzema raul
Benzema to join Real, when will the spending end?
France striker Karim Benzema is joining Real Madrid from Olympique Lyon, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday on their website.
The 21-year-old Benzema will become Real’s third major signing under returning president Florentino Perez after Brazil’s Kaka and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
When Perez was first in charge at the Bernabeu he set about signing one Galactico each close season. Now he is trying to buy them all in a month.
Where is he getting the money from during this global economic crisis? Furthermore, what damage is the spending spree doing to other clubs?
Manchester United were reportedly interested in Benzema to try to boost their forward line after Ronaldo’s departure.
We really are in unchartered territory here. Will Real still pursue Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery too?
You’re all missing the point here…should teams like AC Milan,Real Madrid, ManU etc. be permitted to buy top stars by running into debt while their competitors avoid excessive financial risk and short-term thinking by sticking to players and debt management they can survive on? Just because Madrid can try and finance their way to trophies doesn’t mean that is a sound policy, either in the short term (as Real’s last few years have proven) or in the long term! Here are the actual consequences of this avariciousness:1)Top stars (and their current owners) suddenly ask incredible sums for the “priviledge” of signing them.2)Great players, a notch below them, who are already in their new teams’s squad suddenly become benchwarmers.3)Youth players see that there is another rung added to the ladder they have to climb to reach the first team.4)Not so great players who have one or two “good”seasons at another club quickly raise their asking price, rendering the market insoluble.5)Well managed teams who honour a wage restriction policy and manage their finances intelligently cannot hope to aquire first quality players at an affordable price, thus, either being forced to go into debt or deeper into debt to get the players, or to hope that their current squads can manage to avoid relegation.6) These “superstars”eschew loyalty and commitment to their team and teammates for an attitude that is all about “them and their greed”.7) These guys are paid about 10 time more than the manager(and about a million times more than the referees) so they may indeed find it hard to follow orders and remain sportsmanlike on the field.Making a great team isn’t simply buying “great”players but developing a youth system that promotes talent and teamwork. A team full of superstars is a team full of gigantic EGOS and a team that rarely has one style of play. It is up to the manager to unify and solidfy the team and each position based on his vision. Sir Alex has that skill, but he also has the sharpness to handle big Egos like Christian Ronaldo, and the like. There is also the question of an irrestible drive to win, which Real has lacked (along with AC Milan, Liverpool and Arsenal)and ManU,Barcelona sand Chelsea still possess.
