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Lyon tries to rebound from cup disappointments

Fri 29th, January 2010

Lyon, France (Sports Network) - Lyon has been eliminated from two cup competitions in a four-day span, meaning that they are in need of a win on Sunday at the Stade de Gerland when PSG comes to town.

It is looking more and more as though Lyon will have a tough time adding any silverware to their trophy case this season with just the Champions League and Ligue 1 left on their schedule.

Lyon will face a big task in Real Madrid in the Round of 16 in the Champions League, and they sit 11 points back of Ligue 1 leaders Bordeaux entering the weekend.

Not a lot has gone right for under-fire manager Claude Puel recently, but he is hoping that his side can put its cup problems behind them and begin to try and climb the Ligue 1 table.

Lyon has won three of its last five games in the league following a five-game winless streak that dropped the club out of serious title contention.

However, Puel has been able to rely on steady play from striker Lisandro Lopez all season as he has scored 16 goals in all competitions since joining the club from FC Porto over the summer.

Lopez had big shoes to fill when he arrived from Portugal as star striker Karim Benzema had just left for Real Madrid, leaving a huge void up top for Puel.

However, Lopez has never looked at the situation that way, and he has just focused on giving his all to his new team.

"I'd barely signed my contract and already the fans and the supporters and everyone was telling me I had to replace Benzema," Lopez told the league's official website. "But I don't replace anyone, not Benzema, not anyone.

"I just give my absolute maximum out on the pitch, do things as good as I can so that things go as well as possible for me and the club and that the fans are happy.

"My style is quite simply to occupy as much of the pitch as I possibly can, give it absolutely everything. That's what I've done since I was little and I've never lost it. I want to finish matches with nothing left in the tank, completely spent."

Lyon may not have enough to overtake defending champions Bordeaux, but they enter the weekend only three points back of second-placed Montpellier, while an improvement in form at home would help with the team winning only five of its 10 home contests.

PSG is hoping to move into the top half of the table with a win as they sit in 11th place, but the club got a bit of good news as striker Guillaume Hoarau appears to be fit for the match, although the team's leading scorer, Mevlut Erding, is questionable with a slight injury suffered in training.

Leaders Bordeaux will expect to take three points at home against second-from- the-bottom Boulogne, while second-placed Montpellier entertains fourth-placed Marseille.

Lille has climbed to third in the table and they host Lens, Nice travels to Monaco, Lorient squares off with Nancy, Le Mans meets up with Toulouse at Leon Bollee, Rennes plays host to last-placed Grenoble, St Etienne visits Auxerre and Valenciennes tangles with Sochaux at the Stade Nungesser.