BAFETIMBI GOMIS struck a late equaliser for Lyon but Real Madrid will be favourites to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in seven years thanks to Karim Benzema’s away goal.

Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan looks set to commit his long-term future to the club.

Nicolas Anelka today claimed he was “dying with laughter” despite the 18-match suspension imposed by the French Football Federation which is likely to spell the end of his international career.

NICOLAS ANELKA’S France career could be at an end after he was yesterday hit with an 18-match suspension by the French Football Federation.

Nicolas Anelka’s France career could be at an end after he was today hit with an 18-match suspension by the French Football Federation.

France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan has insisted the whole squad should be punished for boycotting training ahead of their crucial World Cup game against South Africa.

France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan admits he and his team-mates ran out of ideas in the disastrous defeat to Mexico which looks like bringing their World Cup to a premature end.

LYON against Bayern is a semi-final clash no one expected, and so far it has lived down to expectations.

ARJEN ROBBEN may have been Bayern Munich’s Champions League saviour once more but he was still forced to issue an apology following the 1-0 semi-final first leg win against Lyon on Wednesday night.

THE conqueror of Fiorentina and Manchester United, Arjen Robben, again produced the moment of individual brilliance that settled a Champions League game, although the former Chelsea winger’s 70th-minute winner was just one of several talking points.

Bayern Munich 1 Lyon 0

LYON were grateful to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for a dramatic late save as Les Gones reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history with victory over Ligue 1 rivals Bordeaux last night.

TWO GOALS from Lisandro earned Lyon a crucial advantage over Bordeaux in their domestic French battle to discover who will face Manchester United or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

REAL MADRID’S dreams of a Champions League final at their Bernabeu home were crushed by Lyon last night as the Spanish giants were knocked out at the last-16 stage for the sixth successive season.

Marseille midfielder Benoit Cheyrou has been handed a debut call-up to the France squad to face Spain on March 3.

Lyon 1 Real Madrid 0

Giovanni Trapattoni has challenged his Republic of Ireland players to raise their game another notch if they are to edge past France and into next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan remains a major doubt for Les Bleus’ World Cup play-off first leg against Ireland tomorrow.

Lyon utility man Jeremy Toulalan is unlikely to play for France in their crucial World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, according to his club coach Claude Puel.

Liverpool are able to call on defender Daniel Agger for tonight's crunch Champions League Group E clash in the Stade Gerland, the Dane having recovered sufficiently from a back problem to return for the Anfield club’s injury-hit side.

Liverpool 1 Lyon 2

BARCELONA booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a dominant display against Lyon last night.

France and Italy walk out for their trans-Alpine clash at Zurich’s Letzigrund tonight knowing their Euro 2008 fate lies in the hands of Romania.

FRANCE v Romania. Oh dear. Let’s blame it on the weather, shall we?

Fabio Capello is the right man to bring the best out of England’s under-performing national side, according to France captain Patrick Vieira.

France coach Raymond Domenech has named 10 players from the Barclays Premier League in his squad to face England in a friendly in Paris next week.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson rang the changes for this crucial Champions League match against Lyon at Old Trafford.

Lyon 1 Manchester United 1

Walter Smith fielded a cautious line-up for Rangers’ crunch Champions League qualifier against Lyon at Ibrox.

FRANCE coach Raymond Domenech has sprung a surprise in naming Arsenal’s Abou Diaby and Chelsea’s Lassana Diarra in his squad for the double-header against Lithuania and Austria later this month.

Roma 0 Lyon 0

France U-21 1 Republic of Ireland U-21 0

A Victor Agali-inspired Nice staged the comeback of the season to beat Monaco 4-3 in a result that will likely cost the Ligue 1 pacesetters top spot on Sunday.

Cork midfielder Colin O’Brien believes Neale Fenn’s late away goal in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup quarter-final has got Nantes “a little worried” ahead of tomorrow’s return match at Turner’s Cross.