Lyon relishing final against Frankfurt
Sunday, April 22, 2012
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Lotta Schelin admits Olympique Lyonnais will be favourites for next month's Munich showpiece, while 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam rued a slow start after Sunday's semi-final second leg.
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Fresh from securing a goalless draw with 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam that confirmed a 5-1 aggregate win, Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Camille Abily hailed the achievement of reaching a third straight UEFA Women's Champions League final. Her side will take on 1. FFC Frankfurt in Munich on 17 May, while Potsdam must focus on the Bundesliga, midfielder Jennifer Zietz bemoaning bad luck and a poor first-leg performance.
Camille Abily, Lyon midfielder
We are very happy as we knew it would be a tough game. It was nice for our defence not to concede. It is our third straight final and this is a big achievement. We could have scored early but we were also a bit lucky when they hit the woodwork. I hope it will be a good final, as Frankfurt are a great team. We have one more month to prepare and we might be favourites, but Frankfurt are also good so I think it's 50-50.
Sonia Bompastor, Lyon defender
We are very pleased. We expected a complicated game as Potsdam are a quality side who are used to reaching semi-finals and finals. It was a bit strange to prepare with a four-goal advantage, as a lot of people said we were already through. German teams are always confident and, with the crowd behind them, we knew it would be difficult. When we had a player sent off it was even more complicated. The final will be even; we are a bit more experienced, but they will have the crowd.
Lotta Schelin, Lyon forward
It is fantastic that we have reached a third straight final – that was our goal all season. Now we are there we want to fight for the title. We didn't play today like we did last week in Lyon. We didn't have to attack at full strength. I have never played against Frankfurt, but they are a good team and have some fantastic players. We are the favourites as they haven't played a final for a while.
Patrice Lair, Lyon coach
It is another great performance by the club to have reached the final again. But Frankfurt will be very strong in Munich and it will be a big challenge to play another German team. I expect a tough game as Frankfurt have a lot of individual skill, but we want to defend our trophy.
Jennifer Zietz, Potsdam midfielder
The burden from the first leg was too big; we might have had too much respect in Lyon. We knew if we could score an early goal we might have still a chance. We were a bit unlucky hitting the bar a couple of times. We showed that we could have had a chance if we hadn't thrown away the first game. We wanted to prove that last week's result was not justified. We wanted to show a good team performance and I think we did. We will now focus on the Bundesliga, where we are still in a good position.
Alyssa Naeher, Potsdam goalkeeper
Unfortunately, we conceded five in the previous game, but I was proud of how we played today, especially the defence. Lyon have got talented players and a lot of attacking personalities. We gave them a couple of chances and, like good players do, they finished them well in Lyon.
Patricia Hanebeck, Potsdam midfielder
We wanted to play a good game today. We knew our chances were slim, maybe 5% to reach the final. The only positive thing is that we showed a lot of passion and we will try to keep our momentum in the Bundesliga.
Bernd Schröder, Potsdam coach
Today we deserved to win. It was an even game in the first half, but we were the better side in the second. If we’d scored there might have still been a little chance, but to go into half-time with no goals made it difficult. I think that, out of all the games we have played against them in the last few years, this was the best.