Stakes high for Gerland showdown

Claude Puel and Laurent Blanc believe there will be no shortage of motivation when their Olympique Lyonnais and FC Girondins de Bordeaux teams meet at the Stade de Gerland in the first all-French UEFA Champions League tie. The coaches agreed ambition and desire could give their respective sides the edge and each is focused on one thing only: a place in the semi-finals.

Claude Puel, Lyon coach
I'm expecting an even match. Bordeaux have an advantage as they're at home in the second leg. This is the European Cup and you can't compare it to the league matches we've played against Bordeaux, although those games are always hard fought. Their defeat in the League Cup hardly gave me any more ideas as to how they play; every match is different.

My squad has ambition and haven't eased off after knocking out Real Madrid. The important thing was to get to the quarter-finals. Now we're more focused on getting into the semi-finals – and why not the final? – than the name of our opponents. It doesn't matter if they're a French club or not. Champions League matches are generally open because the away team always come to score. I'd take 1-0 or 2-0, even 2-1 – the important thing is to give ourselves the opportunity to get through in the second leg.

Laurent Blanc, Bordeaux coach
You don't need to make a long speech to motivate your players for a match like this. Of course we were down after losing the League Cup final but we quickly threw ourselves into this game. The players want to prove themselves. The two teams know each other very well. We expect a big game against a team that eliminated Real Madrid. At European level there is a big gap between Bordeaux and Lyon at the moment. Of course on 13 December we won in the league [1-0 in Lyon] but the two teams are in different situations now. The objective would be the same even if we had been drawn against a foreign team – to qualify for the last four of the competition. English and Italians are used to that, there could be some spice between two French teams in the UEFA Champions League.

Team news
Lyon
Out: François Clerc (knee), Jean-Alain Boumsong (calf), Joan Hartock (Achilles)
Doubtful: none
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Sidney Govou, Lisandro, Cris, Miralem Pjanić

• Jean II Makoun (groin) and Michel Bastos (muscle) returned from injury on Saturday.

Bordeaux
Out: Marc Planus (knee), Abdou Traoré (hamstring), Grégory Sertic (broken toe)
Doubtful: none
Suspended: Alou Diarra
Misses next match if booked: Michaël Ciani, Marc Planus

• Ulrich Ramé will extend his Bordeaux career into a 14th campaign after signing up for next season on 24 March.

Weekend results
27/03/10 Lyon 2-0 Grenoble Foot 38
(Bastos 48, Delgado 90)

• Lyon claimed their first win in five games against the bottom club Grenoble, who ended with ten men, to move to within two points of Bordeaux. The champions remain top thanks to Montpellier Hérault SC's 4-1 loss to LOSC Lille Métropole.

• Twenty-one of Lyon's 49 Ligue 1 goals this term have come in the final 15 minutes.

27/03/10 Bordeaux 1-3 Olympique de Marseille 
(Sané 84; Diawara 60, Valbuena 67, Chalmé og 77)

• Bordeaux were unable to become the first side to successfully defend the French League Cup after losing at the Stade de France.

• Blanc opted to rest first-choice goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso so Ramé started.

Background
• Lyon are unbeaten at home in the competition this season and defeated Real Madrid CF in the last round, while Bordeaux are the UEFA Champions League's form team with seven successive victories.

• These teams have played over two legs once before in the 1972/73 French Cup last 16, Lyon winning 3-0 at home and losing 3-1 in Bordeaux to go through.

• Lyon are seeking their first appearance in the last four of the UEFA Champions League having fallen at this hurdle three times previously – in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06.

• Bordeaux last got this far in Europe's premier club competition in 1987/88 when they lost to PSV Eindhoven. Three years earlier they beat FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on penalties to reach the semi-finals.

Did you know?
• The pair's overall head-to-head record in the French top flight could hardly be closer: Bordeaux have 32 wins and Lyon 31 with 26 draws. The record between them at the Stade de Gerland is 21 wins for Lyon, 12 for Bordeaux and 12 draws.

Read more on the match in the official UEFA Champions League press kit.