A mild peculiarity of this season's Champion's League group stages is that all three French teams were drawn against Italians, and this week, as luck would have it, there were three France-Italy contests. Result of round 1 - stalemate: one loss, one draw, one win, 3 goals scored, 3 goals conceded.
On Tuesday Marseille were mugged in the Velodrome by the streetwise AC Milan, while Bordeaux grabbed a creditable draw in Turin. Last night it was OL's turn to take on our transalpine neighbours, Fiorentina the visitors to Gerland. We duly took our seats for a 'fiercely contested' match. In the first half the lyonnais fans were much enraged by the rough house tactics of the visiting Viola, and an evenly balanced game swung OL's way at the end of the half when the opposition striker was sent off for an illegal strike - that of his elbow meeting with his marker's face.
The second half was predictably attack and defence, and the pressure finally told fifteen minutes from time when the Italians' French goalkeeper was at last beaten after beating out yet another shot, for once to the feet of an OL player. Les lyonnais could then have had two or three more, but failed to put the chances away and were forced to endure a nerve-wracking final few minutes as Fiorentina won a series of corners and free kicks close to goal.
But all was right on the night, particularly when I heard news of a famous comeback in Belgium in a match somewhat closer to my heart. Today, as if to celebrate, the sun is shining again after a couple of cool, damp and gloomy days. Cold enough to dig out long trousers and put the duvet back on the bed. Autumn is on the way...
