Drawing a blank not an option for Blanc
Coach Laurent Blanc felt FC Girondins de Bordeaux lost the French title last season in their head-to-head meetings with Olympique Lyonnais and is desperate to avoid defeat at Stade de Gerland on Sunday.
Home and away
Lyon took their seventh straight championship last term with a four-point advantage over second-placed Bordeaux, having beaten the runners-up home and away. Claude Puel's side have already established a six-point lead over Blanc's men after 13 games of this campaign, so the Bordeaux boss knows Sunday's encounter could be crucial.
'Do the maths'
"Lyon have already picked up 30 points," the former France sweeper said. "Do the maths. If they carry on at this pace, it will be hard for anyone to catch them. Neverthless, we can still rival them in one game. Last year at the Gerland, we matched them [but lost 4-2] and a 3-3 draw wouldn't have been an unfair result."
Unhappy statistic
Lyon have lost only once at home to Bordeaux in their last 15 meetings, in 2006/07, but the Gascon club drew first blood this season, overcoming Puel's team on penalties to deny them a seventh successive French Super Cup. Moreover, in midweek Lyon suffered their first home defeat in a year, going down 3-1 to second division FC Metz in the French League Cup.
Solid excuse
Midfielder Jérémy Toulalan, who was rested for the Metz game along with other front-line players such as Karim Benzema, is unconcerned. "The league is totally different from the League Cup," he said. "Bordeaux are a steady team who are very good in possession. They made good summer signings. Their Super Cup win was mainly down to their fitness, which was better than ours because our internationals had just resumed training."
Nervy success
While Lyon succumbed to Metz, Bordeaux almost surrendered a 3-0 cushion against Ligue 2 strugglers EA Guingamp, eventually winning 4-2 with a Fernando Cavenaghi penalty calming jangling nerves. The Argentinian forward is Ligue 1's second-top scorer with seven goals, one short of Lyon's Benzema.
Goalkeeping concerns
The champions are still without defenders Mathieu Bodmer and John Mensah, and lost midfielder Fábio Santos to an ankle injury in midweek. With No1 keeper Ulrich Ramé injured, Bordeaux are unsure as to whether stand-in Matthieu Valverde will be available after he suffered concussion during last week's victory over AJ Auxerre. Valverde is back in training yet third-choice Kevin Olimpa remains on standby.
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