16 February,2010 07:51 AM IST | | PA Sport
Real Madrid will attempt to put themselves in a position to end five years of Champions League disappointment tonight when they take on Lyon in the first leg of their last 16 tie at Stade Gerland.
Madrid have failed to reach the quarters of this competition since 2003/04, when were dumped out at the last-16 stage in successive years by Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma and, most recently, Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Lyon have beaten Real on both their previous visits here. However, with the Spaniards bringing in 250million Euros worth of new talent last summer, Lyon coach Claude Puel knows it won't be easy to make it a hat-trick of wins tonight. "They are stronger now, both at an individual and collective level. This is not only a team of stars, they move, recover, defend, they support each other.".
Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the previous two matches due to a ban and has now netted 11 goals in just 13 Primera Division games since his u00a380million move from Manchester United, will be the man to watch out for.
However Puel told Marca there was more trouble in the offing: "We cannot just focus on Ronaldo, there are more players who can decide a game. Karim, Kaka, (Gonzalo) Higuain."
