A chilly night but a match to warm the blood at Gerland last night. The much anticipated visit of Barcelona brought out the crowds and at times delivered a lesson in possession football, but at the end, thanks to Rangers' defeat in Germany, OL remain in the hunt for a place in the last 16.
For the first five minutes it looked as though les lyonnais were going to suffer a repeat of the 3-0 defeat in Catalonia. The only time they had possession for more than a few seconds ended with Barcelona breaking and scoring a simple goal. However, not long afterwards Lyon were gifted a goal and hope when a free kick was missed by everyone in the area and ended up in the back of the net. A penalty apiece in the 2nd half, a sending off for Rijkaard and the result from Stuttgart sent everybody home more or less happy.
La bienheureuse is on a day trip to Germany today, getting an early flight this morning instead of going yesterday evening so that she could go to the match. I helpfully offered to set the alarm on my phone as backup to make sure she didn't sleep through her own 5am alarm. Alas I forgot that the time was still on summer time, so the rude awakening was an hour early. Must see if I can get a new brain from somewhere...
