Real Madrid (1) v Olympique Lyon (1):REAL MADRID stand confronted by their Champions League curse tonight, with Jose Mourinho describing the last-16 second-leg tie with Olympique Lyon as the "hour of truth".
Yet while the Portuguese coach laid out the task before his side in stark terms, noting simply “one team goes home, one goes on”, he has urged the club not to become obsessed with the competition.
“This should not become an obsession,” Mourinho said, his team tied at 1-1. “We should be relaxed about it. The 10th (European Cup) will arrive naturally, not through an obsession. Last year one team (Barcelona) was obsessed with playing the final in Madrid. At Inter we were not obsessed, we just had hope. And we got there, not them. That is the path Madrid have to follow.
“If we work well we will win the competition – if not this year then next. We will fight for it this year but if it doesn’t happen, that’s not a serious problem. A serious problem is what is happening in Japan.
“Real Madrid are the champions of champions and this is fundamental for us. The pressure is applied by the tournament itself: in the next round, one team will play, the other will have to watch it on TV. But nobody is afraid; I want to play this game. Madrid have won nine European Cups and want more. I have won it with two clubs and I want to win it again with a third. But even if we do not win it again, history will not forget either of us.”
Madrid have not won the Champions League since 2002, failing even to come through a single knock-out tie in six years. Mourinho called on the crowd to be active in their support of the team.
“When we go away we always play against 12,” he said. “The Bernabeu is very quiet, it lives the matches in a very relaxed fashion. They applaud when we play well, and we have always performed at home, but I have never seen them and thought: ‘They played their part’. I have been told that when it comes to the hour of truth they get behind the team and this is the hour of the truth – it’s quarter-finals or out.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga’s joint top scorer, has missed Madrid’s past two matches with a leg muscle strain but the club said they expect him to play tonight after he trained with the squad.
Mourinho also responded to the comments of the Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas, who said the Madrid coach would play for a 0-0 draw. “He spoke like a coach, not a president,” Mourinho said, “but maybe he is right. Maybe we will sit and defend. If it finishes 0-0, we’re through.”
Lyon knocked Real out at the same stage last season and the Spanish team have failed to beat the French side in seven meetings in European competition. Coach Claude Puel said there was no point dwelling on past achievements, adding Real would start as favourites but that he liked his team’s chances of scoring.
“Last year we had the aim of scoring and we did and this year we come to the Bernabeu with the same intention,” said the 49-year-old former Monaco player and coach. “We’ll have to fight and play well defensively and we’ll also have to destabilise the opposition. We have been playing very well but so have Real Madrid. It will be a match between two confident teams who have been on good form.”
Guardian Service
