Puel urges Lyon to forget cup heartache

Lyon coach Claude Puel has told his players to get over the disappointment of their back-to-back cup exits by returning to winning ways against Paris Saint-Germain in the league on Sunday.

Les Gones went down 1-0 at Lorient in the quarter-finals of the League Cup on Wednesday, having been beaten by Monaco in the last 32 of the French Cup last weekend.

Their hopes of silverware appear to be fading fast, with the team currently sitting 11 points behind league leaders Bordeaux and set to confront the multi-million might of Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“The match against Paris is very important,” said Puel. “We have to digest these two huge disappointments quickly and bounce back.

“The message is to recover well and quickly move onto something else, but you’re never guaranteed to respond well after a defeat.”

PSG beat third-tier Evian last Sunday to qualify for the last 16 of the French Cup but they, unlike Lyon, are still searching for their first league points of 2010.

The capital club have already lost to Lille and Monaco and travel to the Stade Gerland in 11th place, seven points behind fifth-placed Lyon.

Antoine Kombouare’s men can at least take heart from the return to fitness of last season’s top scorer Guillaume Hoarau, who scored against Evian on his first start since October.

Marseille, fourth, have the same number of points as Lyon with a game in hand but life is much rosier at the Stade Velodrome after they came from behind to beat Lille 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the League Cup last four.

The Mediterranean giants face a taxing trip to second-placed local rivals Montpellier on Saturday, but coach Didier Deschamps was enthused by his side’s performance in the victory over Lille.

“I enjoyed it and I think the players did too,” he said. “There were lots of good things; we controlled most aspects of the match, with a lot of movement, technical control and some nice moves.

“We must be capable of repeating this kind of performance against Montpellier on Saturday.”

Deschamps will have to do without France international goalkeeper Steve Mandana, who sustained a heavy knock against Lille, while Brazilian forward Brandao is likely to miss out after injuring his thigh in training.

Montpellier this week finalised the signing of in-form striker Olivier Giroud from Tours, but the 23-year-old was immediately loaned back to the Ligue 2 side until the end of the season.

Runaway league leaders Bordeaux remain in contention for four trophies this season – the league, both domestic cups and the Champions League – and coach Laurent Blanc says they will attempt to win them all.

“We’ll see what happens in the four competitions,” said Blanc, whose team host second-bottom Boulogne on Saturday.

“We have the time, for now we have the squad and not too many injuries. We can allow ourselves to rotate things. But the further we progress, the tighter it’ll get.”

Lille, third, host Lens on Saturday, while fourth-bottom Saint-Etienne will attempt to continue their unbeaten start to the year in the league when they visit seventh-placed Auxerre on Sunday.

Fixtures

Saturday (1800GMT unless otherwise stated)

Bordeaux v Boulogne, Le Mans v Toulouse, Lille v Lens, Monaco v Nice, Nancy v Lorient, Rennes v Grenoble, Montpellier v Marseille (2000GMT)

Sunday (1600GMT unless otherwise stated)

Auxerre v Saint-Etienne, Valenciennes v Sochaux, Lyon v Paris Saint-Germain (2000GMT)