Zietz: Potsdam believe in Lyon upset

The 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam captain Jennifer Zietz has not given up hope of reaching a third successive UEFA Women's Champions League final and is urging her team-mates to heed the lessons of their first-leg defeat by Olympique Lyonnais.

Holders Lyon are in a formidable position after striding to a 5-1 success at Stade de Gerland last weekend, yet Zietz is determined to make Patrice Lair's players work hard to earn their place in the Munich showpiece when the sides meet again in Potsdam on Sunday. "People may laugh when I say I think we can still go through," the 28-year-old midfielder told UEFA.com. "But we still have a small chance and we have to believe."

These European powers have appeared evenly matched in recent times, sharing a victory apiece in the previous two finals. However, the 2011 winners look to have stolen a march on the German champions this season after dominating the opening match with goals from Amandine Henry, Lotta Schelin, Lara Dickenmann and a Camille Abily double.

Although Bianca Schmidt offered a late response for the two-time European title winners, Zietz admits improvements will need to be made. "We have to talk about what happened and try to learn from the mistakes," she explained.

"You always learn from defeats. We know Lyon are a strong team. They have kept pretty much the same side from last year and they're a well-structured club. Maybe they have more individual talent than us, but we can be a better team."

An excess of confidence might be the only problem for the in-form French side, who have scored 37 goals and conceded only one in their seven European outings so far, although Abily insists such a scenario is unlikely. "We have a very demanding coach so there's not much chance of us taking the second game lightly," the France playmaker said. "We'll go there with the aim of scoring more goals and winning the match."

Lair confirmed Abily's supposition by underling his desire to progress in style. "We want to assert our supremacy over there as well," declared the 50-year-old, who took charge after OL's defeat by Potsdam in the 2010 showpiece.

"Two years ago it would have been difficult to imagine a French side beating a German team 5-1. It shows how much progress has been made. Now we need to turn in another super performance to book our place in the final."