Lyon Kill Cristiano Ronaldo And Real Madrid's Champions League Dreams!

Cristiano Ronaldo provided a perfect start for Real Madrid with an early goal, but Pjanic’s equalizer for Lyon fifteen minutes from time ended the Spanish giants’ dream of surviving in the UEFA Champions League…

There was no miracle for Florentino Perez’s expensive squad. A 1-0 defeat at the Stade Gerland in the first leg of this Round of 16 tie meant that Real Madrid had quite a huge task to overcome at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Whereas a reverse of the score line would have sent the match into extra time, Casillas’ failure to keep a clean sheet explained that only a two-goal margin victory would fire Real Madrid into the quarter finals of the competition.

Ahead of Wednesday night’s titanic showdown, the world’s most expensive player led the pre-match talks by making what some people regarded as an arrogant statement; Ronaldo declared that Real Madrid’s task was to show “who was the boss” at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Now although the first half of the game saw Real Madrid come well on top of their counterparts, the second period revealed something else which went in favor of the visitors Lyon.

Real Madrid 1-1 Lyon: First half – (Ronaldo sets a nice start for Real)

Cristiano Ronaldo was at the centre of everyone’s attraction and his performance came much to the delight of the home crowd.

Deployed wide on the left wing in the initial stages of the match, the fleet footed winger had the space to threaten Lyon’s defense.

Ahead of the encounter, midfielder Lassana Diarra revealed that the key for Real Madrid to be in the driving seat was to score an early goal.

Through Cristiano Ronaldo, the Spanish giants experienced just that. A long ball from skipper Guti in the midfield area found the Portuguese playmaker at the left hand side of the pitch.

Ronaldo raced forward and with Gonzalo Higuain positioned inside the penalty box, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris might have thought that the star winger would square the ball for an assist.

Instead, Cristiano Ronaldo went for goal himself and his lashing low shot from quite a tight angle saw the ball roll between the legs of Lyon’s shot stopper and eventually cross the goal line.

Real Madrid had just found their dream start in this thrilling battle and Ronaldo’s goal instantly multiplied the chants of Los Blancos’ home supporters.

Opportunities followed after that for Real Madrid. Kaka might have doubled the lead for his side if Hugo Lloris wasn’t equally up to his task.

But the most open chance for the Spanish giants fell to Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentine striker was sent clean through on goal after beating Lyon’s offside trap and the keeper as well.

However, his last touch wasn’t quite accurate and the ball could only hit the foot of the post’s right pole. At that point, Lyon were saved while Real Madrid were left with some disappointment.

Los Blancos kept pressing on in search of the second goal but at half time, the score line remained 1-0 for the host only – although at a point in the first period, awarding a penalty for Real Madrid might have seemed fair after Gonzalo Higuain was sandwiched and then brought down in the box towards the end line.

Real Madrid 1-1 Lyon: Second half – (Pjanic’s goal ousts Madrid)

Right after the break, Lyon manager Claude Puel decided to take out Boumsong and Makoun – who had missed a gifted opportunity for the visitors to equalize in the first half.

Apparently, Claude Puel’s decision paid off.

Lyon looked much more dangerous in attack and most of all they succeeded in destabilizing Real Madrid’s midfield.

Kaka showed more of his skills with great runs but his finishes never really troubled Lloris in post. Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile was left with less influence as he simply didn’t receive enough of the ball from his team mates.

But each time he had it between his feet, it seemed like something positive would happen for Real Madrid.

Moments into the second half, it looked like Cristiano Ronaldo was heading for a brace to complete his side’s break away.

However, he was heavily tackled by Lyon captain Cris and replays showed that a second yellow card for the Brazilian born defender might have been the right decision.

With a man down, the French side might have felt pressure to the maximum and the game might have opened up for Real Madrid to pounce on their prey.

But the referee chose to keep his cards in his pocket and Lyon could breathe again.

As Lyon pressed forward regularly, there was always fear for Madrid fans that the hosts would concede a goal.

On 75 minutes, Bosnian international Pjanic finished off Delgado’s excellent work by firing home a shot from inside the penalty box.

At 1-1, Real Madrid were in real danger of crashing out from the Champions League. Raul came on for Kaka as Manuel Pellegrini attempted to offer his team more attacking options. However, nothing really changed in the game.

Real Madrid’s back line seemed to feel much of the pressure and thrice they gave the ball away, leaving Lyon with one-on-one opportunities.

The visitors failed to capitalize on the Spanish giants’ defensive mistakes. Lisandro Lopez even provoked laughter for neutrals and relief for Real Madrid fans after he dreadfully shot wide from 6-yards out.

But in the end, a 1-1 draw was enough to see Olympique Lyonnais through to the quarter finals.

For Real Madrid, this 2-1 defeat on aggregate ended their run in the UEFA Champions League. For Cristiano Ronaldo as an individual, it marked the impossibility to increase his seven-goal tally in the competition.

The Spanish giants are out of Europe and it is a reality, not a nightmare from which any Madridista could wake up from and still think of the final on May 22^nd the next morning.

Many will blame the referee for playing bias against Real Madrid but now fate reveals that La Liga remains the only competition on which Los Blancos can count on to find consolation this season.

As for Lyon, how far will they go in the UEFA Champions League?

This article was dedicated to Bleacher Report. For more football news related to Cristiano Ronaldo and “Real Madrid 1-1 (1-2) Lyon” click here.

Angela Asante, B/ R contributor