Lyon women step up again

Olympique Lyonnais have taken an ambitious approach to their first UEFA Women's Cup campaign and after proving themselves against two of last season's semi-finalists in the second qualifying round, they have earned an encounter with another club famous in both male and female football – holders Arsenal LFC.

Impressive results
Lyon sailed to their first French title last season and stormed through the UEFA Women's Cup first qualifying round, scoring 29 goals without reply in three wins. At the Stade de Gerland in the second stage over the last week, they have now proved themselves against some of Europe's strongest sides, drawing 0-0 with Brøndby IF and defeating Kolbotn IL 1-0 – both those teams having been 2006/07 semi-finalists – before triumphing 2-1 against experienced AC Sparta Praha.

Arsenal test
That left Lyon sharing first place with Brøndby, meaning a draw was needed to decide the top two slots: the French champions duly ended up as runners-up in Group B4 and in a two-legged tie with Arsenal next month. Lyon coach Farid Benstiti said: "We have proved that we have the skills to do it. We have lots of work to do to improve our game. We saw against Sparta that we needed to be more sensible and to convert our chances."

Debut
Nevertheless, advancing unbeaten from a group with three sides who had reached the knockout stage in the past was a fine achievement by the competition debutants. "We are new to this level, and to be honest, it was the toughest section with four teams who could have won it," Benstiti said.

Aims
Before Arsenal visit Lyon for the first leg in mid-November, the latter's focus switches back to the French league where the champions have won all five fixtures. Club president Jean-Michel Aulas, who is giving the women's section his considerable backing, said: "The aim remains to retain the national crown but also to be the first French team to take the European title." And they are well-placed. Two of Lyon's French internationals, Elodie Thomis and Hoda Lattaf, were part of the Montpellier Hérault SC side that contested the 2005/06 semi-finals before being pipped on away goals by eventual champions 1. FFC Frankfurt.