Brøndby bow to Lyon's superiority

Brøndby IF coach Peer Lisdorff is approaching Wednesday's UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais in realistic fashion after his side were soundly beaten by the holders at last week.

The French outfit travel to Denmark in an extremely strong position having clinched a 4-0 triumph at the Stade de Gerland. Camille Abily, Sonia Bompastor, Lara Dickenmann and Louisa Necib were all on target for Lyon – whose lead would have been even more emphatic had it not been for some erratic finishing and excellent goalkeeping from Stina Petersen. OL have now scored 28 goals without conceding in their five European matches and will expect to reach their fifth successive semi-final.

Lisdorff is under no illusions as to the size of Brøndby's task but insists his players will benefit from testing themselves against such a strong side. "We're going to try to get a good result," the Danish coach told UEFA.com. "It's going to be difficult to win by four goals considering what a good side Lyon are and I don't expect us to reach the semi-finals. But it's a good chance for us to measure ourselves against them."

The two sides first met in the competition's qualifying rounds four years ago, playing out a 0-0 draw at Stade de Gerland, yet the extraordinary progress made by Lyon since then was only too evident in the first leg. Lisdorff believes Lyon are an example to follow, saying: "They have made giant strides. I told my players we can learn from this match. It's a good experience. In Denmark, we only really have two other good teams. But if we could play against Lyon every week then we would get better."

With the winners of this tie set to play either 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam or FC Rossiyanka in the last four, talk is gathering of a repeat of the 2010 and 2011 finals between the German outfit and OL. Potsdam lead their Russian opponents 2-0 after the opening instalment, although Lyon boss Patrice Lair is refusing to get ahead of himself.

"We're only at half-time in this tie. First of all, I want to win in Brøndby, turn in a serious performance, try to attack and enjoy the game," the 50-year-old Frenchman said. "Then if we qualify we can think about the semis. We also have the French league and the cup to think about so we can't afford to start thinking about Potsdam or Rossiyanka yet."

The French champions prepared for the trip in ideal fashion, winning 3-0 at AS Muret at the weekend to leapfrog FCF Juvisy Essone atop their domestic league.