OL fights to the end in Madrid: Final, 2-2

OL fought Real Madrid to a hard-earned tie in Madrid tonight in their final Champions League match. At Madrid, a fluid OL offense scored two goals quickly in the first half and it looked like Madrid would be the underdog for most of the game. However, a goal at the 30 minute point and an equalizer in the second half turned the game in Madrid's favor.

The Lyon team that I had been watching over the last month or so had been on cruise control, sleepwalking and yet still winning its league matches, but the OL tonight was completely different. The intensity level and especially the sole forward, in my mind the man of the match, Carew (a dark-skinned Norwegian who has played before in Spain and who know plays for Lyon, go figure?), gave Lyon the offensive pressure it needed to lay on Madrid in order to stay in the game.

Five of my colleagues gathered for the game (I arranged the place and the time for us to meet, I was glad that they showed up!) and we watched the game skitter through ninety tense minutes. In the closing minutes of the game, Cris, the defender, tripped up the former Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy and, with a one-on-one with the goalkeeper (a penalty kick) it looked like the game would finish 3-2 in Madrid's favor.

But then, miracle of miracles! The OL keeper Coupet stopped the shot and kept the score tied, and Lyon held on for the tie and denied first place to a clearly superior, stronger Madrid team. With all the talent that money can buy, Madrid should clearly be winning all its games; but a game, like this, hard-fought, proves that even lesser teams can prove their worthiness against such opponents.

What a game! What an intense ninety minutes (no time for substitutes, in fact, Lyon only substitued one player, and only in the final minutes, in order to buy time)! This kind of match is the kind of stuff you wish to see in the World Cup but never have a chance to see. Ninety minutes of two teams trading attacks, and actually scoring. Not boring stuff at all.