striker jimmy briand "can't wait" for his uefa champions league debut with olympique lyonnais at home against an fc schalke 04 side still bedding in their own new faces.
jimmy briand is looking forward to ticking another box when olympique lyonnais begin their group b campaign against fc schalke 04 on tuesday night.
the summer recruit from stade rennais fc has never experienced the uefa champions league before and admits he "can't wait" for his first taste of the competition. "every player wants to play in this kind of game, and i am just the same, of course," said the 25-year-old forward. "i used to watch these games on tv in the past. i liked the atmosphere."
briand has international experience via four caps for france and 15 appearances in the uefa cup for rennes. "i know what it represents," he said of the step-up. but given he scored only once in europe for rennes and is waiting to register his first goal for lyon after five ligue 1 outings, a goal against schalke could not be better timed. briand knows it will not be easy even if the bundesliga side, like lyon, have made a disappointing start to their domestic campaign.
"in general, german teams are very strong and offensive," he warned. schalke's attack features raúl gonzález, a summer acquisition from real madrid cf, and, like briand, still seeking a first goal for his new club. unlike briand, the spaniard has 66 uefa champions league goals to his name. "i'm proud to be up against such a great player. it shows how i've progressed, though i'd rather concentrate on the game," said the lyon man.
semi-finalists in last season's uefa champions league, lyon are looking to reach the knockout rounds for the eighth year running and according to schalke goalkeeper manuel neuer start the match as "favourites". the german international admitted that the mood in the away camp was "not so good but it's getting better" as their 12 new signings bed in.
second in the bundesliga last term, schalke have lost all three games so far in 2010/11 as well as the german super cup and their new french defender, nicolas plestan, explained: "a lot of players have joined the club this summer, that's why we've had some difficulties at the beginning of the season." as for lyon's difficulties, the former losc lille métropole player added: "the [yoann] gourcuff signing will help them of course but they have to find their collective rhythm."
yardımcı hakemler: tomislav petrović (cro), Željko grgec (cro)
4. hakem: ante vučemilović-šimunović jr. (cro)
çizgi hakemleri: marijo strahonja (cro), domagoj vučkov (cro)
lyon: hugo lloris (gk), pape diakhaté, dejan lovren, jimmy briand (dk. 90+2 kim källström), miralem pjanić, lisandro, michel bastos (dk. 71 jérémy pied), timothée kolodziejczak, anthony réveillère, jérémy toulalan (c), yoann gourcuff (dk. 86 jean makoun)
yedekler: rémy vercoutre (gk), lamine gassama, bafétimbi gomis, maxime gonalons
teknik direktör: claude puel (fra)
schalke: manuel neuer (gk) (c), hans sarpei (dk. 75 lukas schmitz), benedikt höwedes, nicolas plestan, raúl gonzález, ivan rakitić, jefferson farfán, jermaine jones (dk. 70 peer kluge), klaas-jan huntelaar, ciprian deac (dk. 45 joel matip (gk)), christoph moritz
yedekler: mathias schober (gk), edu, josé manuel jurado, erik jendrišek
teknik direktör: felix magath (ger)
goller: 1-0 michel bastos dk. 21
sarı kartlar: dk. 31 michel bastos, dk. 40 timothée kolodziejczak (lyon)
the home team got their group b campaign off to a positive start thanks to michel bastos' first-half strike against ten-man visitors.
last season's semi-finalists olympique lyonnais got their group b campaign off to a winning start courtesy of michel bastos's first-half strike against ten-man fc schalke 04.
the seven-time french champions had made an unconvincing start when bastos pounced on a weak back header from full-back christoph moritz to open the scoring on 21 minutes. although felix magath's men posed the occasional threat, the outcome rarely looked in doubt from moment benedikt höwedes was shown a red card for dangerous play seven minutes before the break. jimmy briand, miralem pjanić and lisandro all missed chances to increase the lead in the second half, but ol will nevertheless travel to hapoel tel-aviv fc in buoyant mood on 29 september, when schalke will look to register their first point at home to sl benfica.
les gones were in their 11th successive group campaign, yet it was schalke, returning after a two-year absence, who settled the quickest. jefferson farfán took advantage of a slip from timothée kolodziejczak on ten minutes, intercepting the 18-year-old left-back's clearance before unleashing a volley that was tipped wide by hugo lloris. from the resulting corner, the peruvian nodded over.
last season's bundesliga runners-up were looking strong in midfield and comfortable at the back until moritz's defensive slip presented ol with the lead. the right-back attempted to head briand's cross-field pass back to his goalkeeper, only for bastos to steal in and lob the stranded manuel neuer. höwedes sprinted back but, under pressure from the brazilian forward, could not prevent the ball crossing the line.
moritz was then close to making amends, fizzing in a low shot from the edge of the box that was expertly pushed wide by lloris, yet the balance of the contest swung further towards the hosts when höwedes was shown a straight red card having caught briand in the chest with a high boot. lyon were suddenly buzzing and twice went close before the interval, yoann gourcuff firing narrowly over before briand burst clear and evaded neuer, only for nicolas plestan to clear.
felix magath reacted by sending defender joel matip on for midfielder ciprian deac, but the ten men continued to struggle in the second half. after neuer had helped bastos's left-footed strike past the post, briand surged up the right and unselfishly teed up miralem pjanić whose low, side-footed strike missed by a whisker. lyon controlled matters with impressive maturity without scoring the second goal, lisandro going closest when his 76th-minute shot was stopped by neuer from point-blank range.
