FRENCH CHAMPIONS Lyon put a huge dent in Real Madrid’s Champions League ambitions last night with a stunning 3-0 victory over the nine-times European champions which sent them top of Group F.

CHECKING over my diary, I see that over the past three weeks I have attended the FA Cup final in Cardiff, the Champions’ League Final in Istanbul, the Jackie McNamara testimonial in Glasgow, the World Cup qualifier against Israel in Dublin and the World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands in Torshavn.

It says it all about the pressure on Brazil that despite such a comprehensive victory the second question coach Luiz Felipe Scolari faced was how can he improve the team.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid made their intentions clear from the start in the Bernabeu.