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MADRID (AP)—Real Madrid will be looking to end its jinx against Lyon in European competition on Wednesday and reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2004.

Madrid drew 1-1 in the first leg with Karim Benzema providing the away goal advantage ahead of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where the teams have drawn in all three previous meetings—including last year when the French club knocked the nine-time champions out at the same stage.

Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Liverpool and Lyon have all sent Madrid out since it’s last two-legged triumph in the round of 16—against Bayern seven years ago. Miralem Pjanic’s second-half goal earned the French club a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu last year to go through 2-1 on aggregate.

“Yes, this run of bad results works against Real Madrid. But the game will be open and Madrid has a small advantage,” Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said Tuesday. “But if we don’t get through this year it’s not a big problem. Big problems are what is happening in Japan right now.”

Mourinho said he would make a decision on Cristiano Ronaldo’s availability after training later Tuesday as Madrid looks for its first victory over Lyon in seven Champions League matches. The Portugal forward, who leads the team with 37 goals in all competitions, has missed two league games with a leg injury.

“It’s the first time that Lyon plays its second match here without an advantage. At this point we’re qualified and they have to play a big game,” Mourinho said. “We will play very defensively. We’ll stack the back and hope (goalkeeper Iker) Casillas makes a lot of stops so if it ends 0-0 we’re through.”

Mourinho’s future at Madrid could depend on the result as the Portuguese coach was hired to end Madrid’s drought in the competition.

So far, Mourinho’s first season has been successful. He has led the team to the Copa del Rey final and into second place in the league, five points behind Barcelona.

But Madrid yearns for European glory and another early exit may leave even the brash Mourinho in trouble.

“Madrid is the champion of champions but obviously they need to win it again. Mourinho is one of three coaches to have won Champions League twice with different clubs so if I don’t win another I’ll still go down in the competition’s history. But I still want to win another,” said Mourinho, who is vying to become the first to win the European Cup with three different teams following title runs with FC Porto and Inter Milan. “(But) everybody wants to play, nobody is afraid. There’s no special pressure for it.”

Madrid, which as won all 21 games played at the Bernabeu this season and has advanced 19 of the 20 times it has drawn away in the first leg of UEFA competitions, also has an inform Benzema to count on. The France striker is finally showing why Madrid paid ?35 million ($49 million) for him from Lyon, and he has scored 19 goals in all competitions with five in Europe.

“He’s changed, it’s true. But Karim himself is the main reason for it, as well as the other players and myself,” Mourinho said of Benzema, who has been helped by Madrid official and former France great Zinedine Zidane. “I also think the psychological work that Zizou has done with him has been very important.”

Mourinho also has Emmanuel Adebayor to choose from in attack in the absence of injured Brazil playmaker Kaka and Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Lyon can count on Argentina striker Lisandro Lopez, who has scored four times in two games since returning from injury. Left back Aly Cissokho, who is still recovering from a thigh injury, traveled with the team and has a good chance to start in place of Thimothee Kolodziejczak, while Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos is suspended.

Midfielder Yoann Gourcuff is available despite a bruised toe.

Lyon is currently enjoying its best form all season and moved within four points of French league leader Lille with a 2-0 win at Sochaux last weekend.

“Everyone is sharing the same positive state of mind at the moment,” France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan said. “(But) even if we did it last season, Real Madrid has improved defensively. Last year, their central defense was left abandoned.”

AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

Labels: downplays, Madrids, Mourinho

Even one of the greatest streaks in soccer history has not saved Jose Mourinho’s position as Real Madrid boss from coming under intense pressure.

With a 2-0 victory over Levante last weekend, Mourinho’s players ensured their coach would complete nine full years without any of his teams having lost a league game at home, a remarkable run that confirms his reputation as one of the all-time greats.

The statistics are astonishing. In 148 home league games since 2002 – when Porto lost 3-2 to Beita Mar – Mourinho’s Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid teams have won 125 and drawn 23. Out of 444 possible points, they have gained 398.

Yet despite all this, the marriage between Mourinho and the Madrid hierarchy is tortured, and every passing week brings greater speculation in Spain that he will either jump or be pushed out before too long.

The complicated political structure of the famous old club has created tension ever since Mourinho walked through the doors of the Bernabeu at the beginning of last summer. The Portuguese icon feels there are factors inside the organization that are working against him, but his decision to go public with his grievances further alienated his opponents and sent some fence-sitters into the opposite camp.

Such an unstable working environment does not bode well for his future in Madrid, and the situation may be brought to a head this week. Madrid faces French side Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday in the first leg of a round of 16 clash that could decide its season, and Mourinho’s fate.

The La Liga title may be beyond reach already, with Barcelona’s consistency such that the current five-point gap is looking like a barrier that could be too steep, even with a third of the campaign left.

The pressure on Madrid’s Champions League bid is further intensified by another streak – an unwanted one. The Galacticos have lost at this round of 16 stage in each of the last six seasons, most recently to Lyon one year ago.

Mourinho has taken a typically bullish approach this week but he knows better than anyone that failure in this competition is the biggest sore point at Madrid, especially with Barca reaching four semifinals in five years and winning it all in 2006 and 2009.

“(Lyon) are tough opponents, who know how to play this kind of match, but we are Real Madrid,” he said, at a pre-game news conference. “The statistics are against us but they are figures from the past. If we think it’ll be easy, we’ll be in trouble. But we don’t think that. If we believe that everything will be decided (in the first leg), we’ll be in trouble. But we don’t believe that.

“We are ready and convinced of our qualities. We’re not attached to the past and we respect our opponents for what they are today. But we are Real Madrid, the champion of champions of European football. There’s pressure but also conviction that accompanies us.”

The most intriguing subplot to Mourinho’s increasingly tenuous position is the certainty that he would be much-coveted elsewhere were he to leave. Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is close to the axe and Mourinho has been strongly linked with a return to West London and the English Premier League, where he won two titles and spearheaded the revolution funded by Roman Abramovich.

Such a move would be extraordinary given the way he parted company with Chelsea in 2007, yet Abramovich needs someone capable of building a squad in the manner Mourinho did several years ago.

For all Mourinho’s quirks and sometimes abrasive nature, Abramovich didn’t realize what a good thing he had until he was gone.

Real Madrid may soon be left feeling the same way.

Labels: Madrids, Mourinho, Sports, Yahoo

Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra claims that Levante will not be easy pushovers despite having been thrashed 8-0 by the Blancos in the Copa del Rey in December.

Madrid and Levante will lock horns in the Spanish Primera Division at the Bernabeu this weekend and Diarra believes that it will not be a walk in the park for the hosts.

"Home points are important,” said the Frenchman, according to Madrid's official website. “We have to win at home.

"We have to win every game until the end of the season if we want the title. I don’t know how the game will unfold, to be honest. Every game is different. We defeated Levante 8-0 in the Copa, but we drew in the league. We have to win, that’s for sure.

“Levante as a team are dangerous. They are strong and help each other. [Felipe] Caicedo will make things harder, but we’ve faced them three times this season, so we know what we have to do."

Diarra also gave his take on Barcelona's upcoming encounter with Athletic Bilbao and said, "I hope Athletic Bilbao can beat Barcelona at Camp Nou, but it will be difficult. Barcelona have to win. If they don’t, they will feel more pressure from us.

“Reducing our distance with the leaders has motivated us even more to catch up with them. We were waiting to get closer. Now that we have, we must continue to put pressure on Barcelona."

Speaking on his relationship with striker Emmanuel Adebayor, Diarra explained, "Adebayor and I have known each other since we were both at Arsenal. He’s like my brother. We’ve done many things together.

“It’s therefore very natural for me to play with him. I try to help him."

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Labels: Dangerous, Diarra, Goalcom, Lassana, Levante, Madrids