Lyon v Bayern Munich - Les Gones to go on the attack

Posted Tuesday, April 27, 2010 by PA

Lyon manager Claude Puel has hinted his side will employ a more attacking approach in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

The French side creaked with caution in the opening leg at the Allianz Arena a week ago when they were fortunate to only lose 1-0.

Bayern even played with 10 men from the 37th minute following Franck Ribery's sending off, although the numbers were evened after 54 minutes when Jeremy Toulalan also saw red.

Puel admits his tactics may have been wrong a week ago, but is confident in his side's ability to turn things around on home turf.

"We played with the handbrake on. But we still have our chances for the return leg, even though it would have been good to score away from home," Puel said.

"We went to (Real) Madrid and qualified and now we will go and do it at Stade Gerland. I prefer this kind of scenario, because you play your best football when you need to get a result.

"Without being overly optimistic, I think we have every chance to qualify simply by playing to our ability."

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal claims the best way of defending his side's 1-0 advantage will be to attack their hosts as if it were a brand new knockout match.

Bayern have one foot in the Madrid final thanks to Arjen Robben's strike last Wednesday and Van Gaal suggested his side should wipe the slate clean and pretend to be starting with the score at 0-0 in order to progress to their first Champions League final since 2001.

"We have got to forget about the first leg because this is going to be a different game," he said.

"But I believe that my players would love to reach the final. Our will is strong."

Bayern will are likely to be without several key players.

Franck Ribery is suspended while defenders Daniel van Buyten, Martin Demichelis and Diego Contento are all carrying knocks.

Furthermore, defensive midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk has not made the trip to France due to illness, leaving Van Gaal sweating over his team selection right until the last minute.

"We have many injuries and many problems," he admitted. "We hope that they can play."