Champions League Group B preview: Top spot on the line

Lyon travel to Schalke in the Champions League on Wednesday for a meeting that will pit the top two teams in Group B against one another.

Despite a 4-3 loss to Benfica in their last Champions League outing, Lyon sit atop the group with nine points, with Bundesliga outfit Schalke a further two points back.

After conceding a 4-0 start, Lyon scored three late goals against Benfica to nearly steal a thrilling draw, but striker Jimmy Briand said his side can ill-afford another sluggish start at the Veltins-Arena.

“We played like schoolkids for an hour and Benfica took advantage,” said Briand.

“We got a slap at Benfica so we mustn’t turn the other cheek to Schalke, because there’s a risk of the same thing happening.”

“Schalke need points, they know they’ve still got a hard game at Benfica, so they’ll put us under a lot of pressure with a fantastic crowd behind them.”

“It’s up to us to be clever, not to give in and to wait for the right moment to take the points we need.”

Schalke have been in good form of late, with Felix Magath’s side unbeaten in their last four matches and riding high after hammering Werder Bremen 4-0 on Saturday.

A win will go a long way towards booking Schalke’s place in the last 16, although depending on Benfica’s result against Hapoel Tel Aviv, they may still need to beat the Portuguese side in a fortnight to secure their spot.

The equation for Benfica is simple: a win against Hapoel on Wednesday and at home to Schalke on December 7 will secure their first knockout stages berth in five years.

Hapoel have taken just one point from their four group matches so far and lost 2-0 to Benfica in Portugal in the reverse fixture, but Benfica forward Javier Saviola is expecting them to be a different prospect this time around.

“Hapoel are next and now the group is really open so it is a massive match. We are lucky that things are in our hands again,” Saviola said.

“However, we are playing a team that surprised us even though we won (2-0 in Lisbon in September).”

“They surprised us with how they played in possession as a team, they have very skilful players. Teams play differently home and away but they will be very tough in Tel Aviv.”