Today’s the day: Rangers v Lyon

By: Ian Rose | December 11th, 2007

First, Inara has an excellent preview up over at the Lyon Offside. Check it out. I won’t be able to be quite as detailed today, as I have a lot of work to get done if I’m going to be able to take off and watch the match, but I wanted to get my thoughts in as well.

To me, this match is about forgetting the first leg. Rangers went to Lyon on October 2nd and blew out the heavily favored Lyon, 3-0 on goals from Lee McCulloch, Daniel Cousin, and DaMarcus Beasley (out now with a knee injury). It was a great win for Rangers, one of the most surprising results of the group stage for any team, and it was rock bottom for Lyon. Ever since, the six-time French champions have been a different team. As Inara points out, 30 goals in two months. That is serious offensive power. As great as the win in France was for Rangers, and as bad as it was for Lyon, both teams better be over it, because if either team believes that it means much for this match, that team will lose, and be out of the Champions League.

Rangers need to be aware, as I’m sure they are, that they are facing a much better Lyon team than they did in France. Ben Arfa, Benzema and Juninho have looked fantastic lately, and the Lyon attack is in great form. The defense is another thing entirely, and goals have leaked in pretty regularly past a back four and keeper that continue to look vulnerable. Still, Rangers should expect every aspect of this team to be better than it was in October.

Lyon also need to put that match out of their heads, but not too far out. They need to remember that Rangers are a team that can beat them, and that was away from home, where the Old Firm traditionally withers. They need to realize how difficult it is to get a win at Ibrox, something Barcelona couldn’t do.

I’m not much for predictions, as readers of both this and the UEFA Cup blog know. It’s not that I don’t like to make predictions - I’ll do that - I’m just not very good at it. What I will say is this. Obviously, Lyon needs to score because anything less than a win and they’re out. But Rangers need to score too. The quick, crafty young attack of Lyon will almost certainly get at least one past Allan McGregor, and they will press for more. Open play is going to be a chess match between these two, and I can’t see a goalfest from either side. It’s going to come down to set pieces, and for Rangers that means limiting the fouls around the box. Juninho can hurt any opponent with his free kicks, and though that’s hardly the only danger from Lyon, it’s the one that most takes the fantastic defensive duo of Weir and Cuellar out of the equation. It’s hard to tell a Scotsman not to tackle, but Rangers need to tackle intelligently, something they are certainly capable of doing. Lyon is more than capable of creating chances - don’t hand them free ones.

Lyon don’t have a monopoly on dangerous set pieces. As disappointing as the Stuttgart loss was, Rangers had some of their best corner kicks and free kicks of the campaign. Rangers need to keep the pressure on, and do what too many people that don’t watch them regularly foolishly assume they are unable to do - attack. To me, Darcheville being out is a blessing. He’s wasted far too many great passes and must by now be common-law married to the offside position. As much as I am not a huge Daniel Cousin fan, he’s better than Darcheville. Kris Boyd will be waiting in the wings for a chance to earn his way back into Walter Smith’s good graces. Steven Naismith will be looking to do the same, and hopefully he’ll get more time than he did in the Stuttgart match, where he made trouble for the defense even in the limited minutes he got.

If I’m forced into a prediction, I’ll go with 1-1. A Rangers strike from Barry Ferguson around the 20th minute, countered by a Juninho free kick in the second half. That’s just specific enough that I’m sure to be wrong, which relieves a lot of the pressure. Count on another brilliant match from Alan Hutton, who even I (as a huge fan of the SPL) believe is too good for the SPL. As much as domestically, I am no fan of Rangers, I will be watching tomorrow, with a Scotland shirt on and not a Rangers one. One point is all that’s needed to put two Scottish teams in the final 16 of the Champions League, and to continue the fine streak of victories of Scottish over French teams. The coefficient points will also be enough to jump over Ukraine and maintain Scotland’s position as the 10th-ranked league in Europe. It will be a little more icing on what is already a great year for Scottish football. Good luck, Rangers. Do Scotland proud.