Belief key to banishing Barça fear factor

Olympique Lyonnais coach Claude Puel is urging his players to focus on their own strengths rather than worry about those of FC Barcelona as the two most prolific teams from the UEFA Champions League group stage vie for a quarter-final berth.

'Talented players'
The French titleholders could be forgiven for adopting a degree of caution in Tuesday's home first leg. Their opponents are the competition's top scorers with 18 goals – four more than Lyon – and in Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry possess one of the most feared attacks in the game. Yet Puel insists OL would be making a grave mistake if they played merely to contain. "Barcelona have so many talented players, if we try to man-mark them all we'll be in trouble," he said. "We never focus our attention on an opposition player, no matter how good he is. We need to concentrate on our own game."

Excellent form
Les Gones are competing in the knockout stage for the sixth year running and though they have not beaten the Azulgrana in four attempts, Puel will draw encouragement from his side's excellent form – they have established a six-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. "Barcelona may have more individual quality than us but in Juninho [Pernambucano] and [Karim] Benzema we also have match-winners," explained Puel, who restricted his star duo to second-half cameos in Saturday's 2-0 win at AS Nancy-Lorraine. "It's possible for us to win if we remain collectively strong," added the 47-year-old, who will employ John Mensah at right-back in the continued absence of François Clerc and Anthony Réveillère, while Mathieu Bodmer, Sidney Govou and Fábio Santos are also injured.

Minor blip
If Lyon are pulling away in France, the Catalan outfit have seen their advantage in the Spanish Liga cut to seven points after first drawing with Real Betis Balompié and then losing 2-1 to neighbours RCD Espanyol. This blip has taken many by surprise and sparked talk of a deeper malaise, although coach Josep Guardiola is keen to keep things in perspective. "We've lost one game," the 38-year-old said. "In sport, this can happen. When we were winning I said we have to keep working and trying to improve. Now we've lost I'm saying the same thing. We could analyse the Espanyol defeat all we like but we don't have time. The Lyon game is extremely important and we'll need to give it our full attention."

Abidal out
Barça defeated Lyon 3-0 at the Camp Nou in last season's group stage before drawing 2-2 away, yet Guardiola remains wary of the French double winners. "They're an excellent side," the former Spain midfielder said. "They often change coach but they're still going to win an eighth straight title. We know all about Benzema, of course, but players like Juninho and [César] Delgado will also pose a threat." The visitors are shorn of former Lyon left-back Eric Abidal, who picked up a groin injury against Espanyol, joining Andrés Iniesta on the sidelines. Guardiola will not be looking for excuses, though, should his team lose for the second time in four days. "I expect a reaction," he declared.