Lyon’s Champions’ League elimination at the hands of PSV Eindhoven in 2005 was cruelly felt by the club’s players and supporters, but neutral observers were also struck by a palpable sense of regret; Mahamadou Diarra would not be waging his one-man war against the entire AC Milan midfield in the semi-finals.

Diarra’s titanic struggle with PSV captain Mark van Bommel in the 2004/05 quarter-finals was the highlight of the two intriguing legs of European football and it was the Mali international who took the plaudits.

Diarra quit his native Bamako for Greek First Division outfit OFI Crete at just 17 years of age. After an accomplished first season in Europe, Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem snapped up Diarra at the start of the 1999-2000 season. He already possessed an ability to read the game that was the envy of far more experienced midfielders. His above-average technique and precise passing is coupled with an 1.87m frame that draws comparisons with France skipper Patrick Vieira.

Diarra quickly won the confidence of Lyon's new Coach Paul Le Guen after signing in 2002 and was an immovable fixture in the side’s charge to a second successive Ligue 1 crown. He earned his second and Lyon’s third title in 2004, but it was in 2004/05 that Diarra, aged 23, took on truly monumental proportions in the heart of Lyon’s midfield.

While Juninho Pernambucano and Michael Essien stole the headlines with glorious free kicks and timely tackles, it was arguably Diarra who kept Lyon ticking during the most exciting season in the club's history. “He really takes a load off the defence,” said left-back Eric Abidal. “He wins the ball in the air from goal kicks, he makes the crunch tackle when there’s danger and he’s always there when we need an option. Basically he does it all.”

“We’re lucky to have him,” added Brazilian stopper Cris. “His attitude is fundamental to the team – he never, ever gives up.” Or as Juninho himself put it: “Quite simply, when you watch Lyon play, you realise pretty quickly that he is the boss.”

Playing just in front of the defence and behind a midfield-cum-attack that can sometimes leave him isolated in the middle of the park, Diarra is charged, above all, with regulating the speed with which the opposition attacks - a job he relishes. “For me, it’s almost unnatural that someone should out-muscle me or the team in midfield,” he admitted. “And when it happens, then yes, I get angry and I fight back. Sometimes I almost feel possessed.”

In the Bambara language of his native Mali, Diarra means Lion. Dutch maestro Van Bommel will not be surprised be hear that.