LYON, France Olympique Lyon will be hoping to turn around a dismal start to the French championship and seal a place in the European Champions League for the first time when they face Inter Bratislava on Wednesday night.
The French side hold a 2-1 advantage from the first leg of their third preliminary round fixture in Slovakia but have failed to win any of their opening four first division matches.
A poor start is nothing new for big-spending Lyon. Last season they lost their opening league fixture to Montpellier, who went on to be relegated, before crashing in the Champions League qualifying stages to modest Maribor of Slovenia.
Lyon need only a draw at home on Wednesday to advance to the lucrative league stages but a 2-0 defeat away to Bastia at the weekend confirmed their current lack of form.
"We have a double mission: The chance to seal a Champions League place and the chance to compensate our fans with a home win," said sweeper Patrick Muller.
Lyon Coach Jacques Santini believes the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League has had an adverse effect on his team's recent league performances.
"It's something we have been aiming at for two seasons and maybe, subconsciously, the players have had Europe in the back of their minds," Santini said.
"I hope that they will be really hungry against Inter Bratislava.
There is no way that they are a team we will take lightly." Leading striker Sonny Anderson, who missed the loss to Bastia after returning to Brazil following the death of his father, will return to the Lyon team to face the Slovaks.
Two other French clubs, Monaco and Paris St. Germain, have qualified automatically for the opening league stage of the competition.
(Reuter)