Real Madrid will be looking to end its jinx against Lyon in European competition today and reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2004.
Madrid drew 1-1 in the first leg with Karim Benzema providing the away goal advantage ahead of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where the teams have drawn in all three previous meetings — including last year when the French club knocked the nine-time champions out at the same stage.
Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Liverpool and Lyon have all sent Madrid out since it's last two-legged triumph in the round of 16 — against Bayern seven years ago.
"Yes, this run of bad results works against Real Madrid. But the game will be open and Madrid has a small advantage," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said yesterday. "But if we don't get through this year it's not a big problem. Serious problems are what is happening in Japan right now."
Cristiano Ronaldo was included in the squad as Madrid looks for its first victory over Lyon in seven Champions League matches. The Portugal forward, who leads the team with 37 goals in all competitions, has missed two league games with a leg injury.
"It's the first time that Lyon plays its second match here without an advantage. At this point we're qualified and they have to play a big game," Mourinho said. "We will play very defensively. We'll stack the back and hope (goalkeeper Iker) Casillas makes a lot of stops so if it ends 0-0 we're through."
Mourinho's future at Madrid could depend on the result as the Portuguese coach was hired to end Madrid's drought in the competition.
So far, Mourinho's first season has been successful. He has led the team to the Copa del Rey final and into second place in the league, five points behind Barcelona.
Madrid yearns for European glory and another early exit may leave even the brash Mourinho in trouble.
"Madrid is the champion of champions but obviously they need to win it again. Mourinho is one of three coaches to have won Champions League twice with different clubs so if I don't win another I'll still go down in the competition's history. But I still want to win another," said Mourinho, who is vying to become the first to win the European Cup with three different teams following title runs with FC Porto and Inter Milan. "(But) everybody wants to play, nobody is afraid. There's no special pressure for it."
Lyon can count on Argentina striker Lisandro Lopez, who has scored four times in two games since returning from injury. Left back Aly Cissokho, who is still recovering from a thigh injury, traveled with the team and has a good chance to start in place of Thimothee Kolodziejczak, while Michel Bastos is suspended, although the Brazilian midfielder is out until at least the end of the season with a knee injury.
Midfielder Yoann Gourcuff is available despite a bruised toe.
Lyon is currently enjoying its best form all season and moved within four points of French league leader Lille with a 2-0 win at Sochaux last weekend.
"We don't look at what was done before and statistics don't count for much either. What counts is what's done on the field," said Lyon coach Claude Puel, who didn't consider Madrid the favorite because of the away goal. "It doesn't change too much. Last year we also had the objective to score and it was done. We need to impose our style and go from there."
Holding a 2-0 lead over FC Copenhagen, the pressure should be off Chelsea — and misfiring striker Fernando Torres — in the Champions League today.
In five matches since his 50 million-pound (then $81 million) move from Liverpool, the Spain striker has failed to score once.
And it was Nicolas Anelka's double in the first leg that put Chelsea on the verge of ousting Copenhagen to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
"For the strikers it's important to score," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday. "In my opinion (Torres) has played well for the team and has done what I asked him to do on the pitch.
"The only problem is because he's a new player and he needs to know our kind of play better but I think he will score."
Torres has struggled to adapt to life in the English capital since leaving Liverpool on 31 January.
"I do not know London, have spent time looking for somewhere to live and it's all been a bit of a mess," he was quoted in the British media as saying. "What I want to do now is settle down, be quiet, stop thinking about other things and enjoy my life."
Torres' teammates have no doubts that he will eventually successfully linkup with Anelka and Didier Drogba.
"Fernando is great, he is a fantastic, world-class player of a different quality," Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic said. "He can give a lot of things to Chelsea. It's difficult at the moment because he needs to adapt to a new club, but the players trust him and he knows he can be important to us."
The arrival of Torres for a British-record transfer fee had been expected to revitalize Chelsea's title defense. But the team is fourth in the standings, nine points behind leader Manchester United, after winning just two of its four league matches since Torres arrived.
With Chelsea's FA Cup defense also over, winning the Champions League for the first time offers the team's last realistic change of ending the season with a title.
"For me it's the biggest success in football winning the Champions League," Ivanovic said. "We have to use all our power to stay and fight."
Copenhagen, which has a nine-point lead in the Danish standings, has nothing to lose and will be going on the attack at Stamford Bridge today.