Puel wary of Mourinho´s Real

Lyon coach Claude Puel is expecting a different Real Madrid to arrive at the Stade de Gerland for a Champions League rematch on Tuesday.

The French club accounted for Real 2-1 on aggregate over the two legs of their Champions League round-of-16 tie last season.

But with master tactician Jose Mourinho now at the helm and some prized recruits onboard, Puel is expecting a much tougher challenge in 2011.

“Real this year are different,” Puel said.

“They were a strong team already last year, but maybe this year Real Madrid is more balanced with more players in the midfield, and that allows for better balance between attack and defence.”

“And moreover there are some very good players, with great skills. They came last year, and also last summer, players like (Sami) Khedira, (Angel) Di Maria, (Mesut) Oezil, and (Emmanuel) Adebayor – everything you need to make a very good team, which could play well together.”

Real will be without striker Gonzalo Higuain, but Lyon are also missing their own key front-man in Lisandro Lopez.

And Puel believes his side will miss the service of their Argentine striker far more than the Spanish club will theirs.

“Yeah, they have lost Higuain but they don’t need to cry, with all their players they have,” he said.

“For sure, for us it’s more complicated, without Lisandro Lopez. It’s an important game, we will miss him, obviously, he can play at his best level very quickly, and bring the team’s levels up too. So we have to deal with that. Lisandro is not here, but there are others players.”

Puel pinpointed the combination of some astute signings and the recruitment of Mourinho as the reason for Real’s impressive form during the first half of the season.

“Mourinho is one of the best Real Madrid new signings but don’t forget the players, they have great skills,” he said.

“They’ve just signed for Madrid. So yes, there is a coach, and we all know Mourinho is able to produce great teams, but there are players too.”

“And they’ve had very good balance this year, with good players in the midfield. Thanks to them the stars can shine in their attack. So it’s a good balance, and Mourinho is a big part of it.”