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Lyon claimed a late draw against Real Madrid in the Estadio Bernabeu on Wednesday which assures Gérard Houllier’s men of top spot in Group F of the Champions’ League.
Real Madrid appeared determined to erase the memory of the weekend’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of eternal rivals Barcelona, and were immediately into their stride against the French champions.
Pressing high up the pitch the Spanish giants quickly gained the upper hand in midfield yet it was Lyon that carved out the first chance of the match when John Carew drew a save from Iker Casillas after just five minutes.
However it proved little more than a reminder that there were two teams on the pitch as the hosts turned up the heat on Grégory Coupet’s goal.
Just after the quarter-hour mark, Guti, sporting the captain’s arm-band in the absence of Raul, saw his effort turned away by the France international ‘keeper after good work on the left by Zinedine Zidane.
Gutthen got better of Coupet with a header from a David Beckham corner, only to sit saved on the line by Anthony Revéillère on 21 minutes.
After 41 minutes, Real, and Guti in particular, finally got the goal their first half performance merited. Following a foul by Revéillère on Robinho, the Lyon defence failed to clear the resulting free-kick and Guti rifled the ball past Coupet from six metres out.
Real continued to dominate in the opening stages of the second half and could have doubled their advantage on the hour when Robinho volleyed narrowly over.
Lyon slowly came back into the match and Florent Malouda picked out Sidney Govou with a superb diagonal ball, only for Casillas to defuse the stinging volley at the second attempt.
Before the match Houllier had said his side would be going to play their natural game and score goals. With over 20 minutes to go he backed up his promises with a daring double substitution. Sylvain Monsoreau and Govou made way for Sylvain Wiltord and Brazilian striker Fred.
The move payed off immediately as Wiltord raided down the right and cut the ball back to Carew in the six-yard box. The Norwegian held off the attentions of Roberto Carlos before backheeling the ball past Casillas for a precious equaliser.
With siw minutes left on the clock Juninho almost delivered victory to Lyon with a trademark free-kick that flashed just the wrong side of the upright with Casillas beaten.
Then win means Lyon, with 13 points from four wins and draw, are assured of topping Group F, irrespective of the final day result, thanks to a superior head-to-head goal difference with Real Madrid who are three points adrift.
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