Champions League night yesterday, which meant another trip to Stade Gerland to watch Olympique Lyonnais attempt to maintain an interest in the competition. It was a must-win match against Stuttgart and the 4-2 result might suggest that they did so comfortably, but that was far from the case. It started off well enough, 2-0 up after 15 minutes and comfortably in control, but despite going in 3-1 up at half time, the second half was a taut, nervous affair. Les allemagnes pulled a goal back and then won a penalty (undeserved, the TV replay apparently showed), and OL were all over the place. Fortunately reserve keeper Vercoutre pulled off a great save, Lyon got another goal injury time and the battle for 2nd place in the group is still on. All OL have to do now is beat Barcelona at Gerland in the next match and then beat Rangers in Glasgow. Aucuns problèmes...
The nice thing about going to the football here is that we can be at the ground in less than half an hour, and likewise home barely half an hour after the final whistle. The metro station is right outside our end of the stadium and with seats on the aisle, if we leave as soon as the match ends, we usually beat the crowds to the metro and rarely have to queue longer than a couple of minutes to get on a train. A 10 minute ride and 10 minute walk later we're back home. Nice on a chilly autumn evening...
