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Lyon Can Be In A Ligue Of Their Own Monday 19th May 2003
Lyon can retain their French championship on Tuesday evening, but to do so, they must beat bogey team Montpellier for the first time in four seasons. Paul le Guen's team are just a win away from glory, but anything less would let Monaco back in, and the Principality club are flying high after winning the Coupe de la Ligue on Saturday evening, ahead of their clash with Guingamp. Marseille are also in with a slim chance, but would require both their rivals to slip up very badly.
The champions currently lead Ligue 1 by three points with just two games remaining, but a repeat of last season's 3-0 defeat at Montpellier could still see them needing a big last day win at home to Guingamp to claim the title on goal difference, if Monaco win their two matches. However, their fate is currently in their hands, even if the players and coach are not willing to dream of glory just yet.
"I'm not seeing myself standing on top of a bus celebrating the title in the streets of Lyon like last season," said defender Patrick Mueller. "You should not have dreams that might never happen. I've been through the same situation in Switzerland when our fans were telling us the scores. We missed the title and it's a situation I don't want to live through again."
After they beat Paris Saint Germain last weekend, keeper Gregory Coupet warned that they will need to play much better if they do not want to blow their lead at the top: "I am annoyed because I find that we performed poorly and no-one could see the difference between a team fighting for the title and a team ranked in mid-table. We lacked fighting spirit and apart from Sonny's goal, their keeper did not have much work to do. We should not be too fussy because in the end we won, but we should not content ourselves with the minimum. We know that we will suffer at Montpellier. If we play as poorly as we did against PSG we face great disillusionment."
"We have not done too well against Montpellier in recent years but every series must end," said Eric Carriere. "And since we're at the end of the season with such a crucial objective ahead, we must forget about the past and our previous encounters." However, Montpellier also have much to play for as they are only a defeat away from possibly getting sucked into the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Monaco's cup win at the weekend was a welcome diversion from the financial troubles circling the club, and casting doubts over the future of coach Didier Deschamps: "It's none of my business. I'm still under contract but if my bosses want me out, I'll go," he said. "But from what I heard, it's far from certain. I hope that the rumours have not disturbed the players. There has been a lot of disinformation but, as far as I'm concerned, I'm already working for next season."
Whether they might start next season as champions will depend on Lyon's results more than their own, but Deschamps will want to fight on for as long as possible for his own sake, though his future at Monaco may not have much to do with on-the-pitch performances. There are no such problems for Paul le Guen at Lyon, and he could be celebrating the culmination of a successful first season on Tuesday night if they can finally beat Montpellier.
i got this news from www.megasoccer.com i also post message ROME v AC MILAN you can read that and then can you tell me what you think about Tuesday soccer?
nearly all games are important for one reason or another, its an incredibly tight league, the one that interest me is Lille to beat Ajaccio, the hom side can almost assure first division footy next season with a win.
Both teams may have climbed out of the relegation zone in recent weeks but Lille and Ajaccio know that defeat on Tuesday night will mean their campaign for survival will go to the wire.
It is still too close to call who will fill the two remaining relegation berths and both sides are two of six possible candidates to go down with Troyes who are already doomed.
Lille have not been pretty to watch in recent weeks but they are picking up the points. Three goalless draws in four outings have only been broken by the 1-0 win over Rennes with Les Dogues struggling to score but boosted by a watertight defence.
Lille's last match of the season is a potentially hazardous trip to a Bordeaux team that is still likely to be in contention for the Champions League, meaning they must get something out of what is a six-pointer with Ajaccio, just one point behind Lille and two points above the drop zone.
Lille midfielder Benoit Cheyrou said: "It's a massive match, the biggest of the year.
"We are in good form and we will remain focused on our goal right until the end.
"The danger is to get too cocky with the good results that we have pulled off but I am counting on the team not to get over-confident," he told club website, www.losc.fr.
It has been a similar story for Ajaccio whose consecutive wins over Le Havre and Nice have seen the Corsicans climb out of the bottom three.
However, Yassin Bezzaz - who scored the winner against Nice - is out for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury with midfielder David Terrier in the same situation.
Ajaccio coach Rolland Courbis will likely persist with the three-pronged strike force that has prospered in recent weeks.
Argentinian Juan Esnaider will partner Bruno Rodriguez - and with French 1998 World Cup winner Bernard Diomede also to call on Courbis has had plenty of options up front in recent weeks.
Ajaccio's last match is easier than Lille's - a home match with Strasbourg who have little to play for as they are safe from relegation.
Victory for either side on Tuesday may mean - depending on the outcome of other matches - that survival could be secured with a week to spare.
The today game perhaps it was a part of the deal( very soon the coach of Rennes is going to Pari as you know).So maybe it's better for Pari to see the Rennes team safe(next year meetings).Pari is thinking only the cup final.
So i bet on X2.
Polish 1.Liga:
Odra Wodzisław-Amica Wronki: this is a game of great importance for Odra. They are now 4.(52 points,the same as 3.Groclin and one point less than 2.-Dospel Katowice) in the table and fight for the third “Uefa Cup spot”.Odra could even dream of championship because they are only 4 points apart of Wisla but I don’t think they have such a ambitious plans after humilating defeat in Krakow.Amica plays for their pride only. I have problem with this game....Some years ago I’d say it’s a sure-bet because too many matches were under suspiscion of being fixed. Now the times have changed and personally I see more “strange” results in German Bundesleague than in Polish 1.Liga. Odra is in crisis, first they lost home against Gornik Zabrze(1-3), them went to Krakow and lost against Wisla (4-0) and then won over lowly KSZO 2-1 but in really inconvincing style. It’s not the same powerful team which crushed its opponents easily with lots of goals in the begining of the season. But I would advice to bet on hosts with medium stake tonight due to difference in incentive Amica is safe in the table! Moreover, Amica came to Wodzislaw with 15 players only,without regular defender Bieniuk ( suspended) Bajor,Mielcarski,Dziewicki,Dudka and probably without Sobocinski.If Sobocinski doesn’t play,Amica will be left with one good forward-Dawidowski.On the contrary, Odra will kick-off with the strongest line-up!
I have in Expekt 1,6 for Odra. I take it and cover it with the next pick- OVER. Odra’s games are often finished with more than 2 goals.( sorry,don’t have time to present stats)
Polish punters, your opionions please...
I don't believe AC Milan will risk injuries of their best players before clash at Old Trafford.Just look what Juve did in their last match in Reggina.On the other hand,National Cup can be the only real success of this season for Roma and Capello.AC Milan will be fighting but if the things go wrong on the pitch,I expect them to give up.Bookies slahed their odds for Roma.I can have 1,73 only in Unibet.
Le Havre v Lens Under 2.5 - 1.70 @ Bet At Home
While Lens is pretty much stuck midtable, Le Havre better get some wins soon or they'll be relegated. Average goals at home for Le Havre is 1.76 and Lens is even lower with only 1.39 away. H2H's is under in total and their last matches indicate a low scoring game aswell...
Troyes v Nantes Under 2.5 - 1.70 @ Bet At Home
Hometeam is relegated and Nantes have nothing to play for. Think they can reach Intertoto but don't take my word for it. Troyes is 78% under at home and Nantes is 83% under away. The H2H looks very good with 0-0, 0-1 and 1-0 as the results. Both teams seemes to be playing good defence and poor offence and that is good indications for another under...
Bastia is winless since 9 games. They will miss 4 players today. Sochaux should win this game to keep their position in the table. They went to Corsica on Sunday to prepare for this game and I believe away win worths a medium stake. But because Bastia has a lot of draws at the last weeks, I prefer Sochaux -1/4 @ 2.00 from Betfair...
90'