Olympique Lyon have been a thorn in Real Madrid's side in recent years and their coach Remi Garde believes his young side are ready to inflict another upset on the nine-times winners in Tuesday's Champions League clash at the Bernabeu.
Villarreal hope facing Manchester City in the Champions League will finally bring out the best in a team that has fallen short of the class they showed last season, coach Juan Carlos Garrido said on Monday.
Real Madrid host Olympique Lyon aiming to continue their perfect start in the Champions League today but some of the other heavyweights are still playing catch-up.
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will stay home while his teammates start the European Champion League match against Otelul Galati in Bucharest, Romania on Tuesday.
Holders Barcelona barely broke a sweat in a ruthless 5-0 hammering of BATE Borisov while former champions AC Milan made harder work of finding the net before overcoming new boys Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Manchester City suspended Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez on Wednesday as they began an investigation into whether he refused to come on as a substitute in the Champions League tie with Bayern Munich.
A late Roberto Soldado penalty denied Chelsea FC their third successive single-goal win at the Estadi de Mestalla after a fine Frank Lampard strike looked likely to leave Valencia CF with nothing to show for a spirited defensive performance.
AC Milan gained their first win in UEFA Champions League Group H courtesy of goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovi? and Antonio Cassano against FC Viktoria Plzeň.
Manchester United got a Champions League wake-up call when they needed a late Ashley Young goal to salvage a 3-3 draw against FC Basel after lax defending had allowed an unlikely Swiss fightback in yesterday's Group C match at Old Trafford.