Lyonnais vs Dinamo Zagreb - Zlatko Kranjcar keen for Dinamo Zagreb to recover from home setback

Posted Tuesday, September 13, 2016 by PA

Dinamo Zagreb must shrug off the shock of losing a six-year, 103-game unbeaten home record as they head into Wednesday night's UEFA Champions League Group H clash with Lyon in France.

Zlatko Kranjcar's men saw their astonishing domestic run brought to an end in a 1-0 defeat to Osijek on Saturday but the Dinamo coach is confident his side can bounce back against opponents with problems of their own.

Kranjcar told Croatian media: "Lyon have lost two games in a row but it certainly will not be easy and that can make it dangerous for us.

"After the defeat to Osijek we started immediately to prepare for Lyon. We trained on Monday in a positive atmosphere and I believe that the players will respond well in Lyon."

Dinamo will be without captain Domogoj Anotic and defender Alexandru Matel as they look to erase any lingering memories of their 7-1 home defeat to Lyon in the 2011-12 campaign.

Kranjcar added: "I have a high opinion of Lyon but I do not think about what happened five years ago. I think we are in a positive situation and we can look for a positive result."

Lyon go into the game with pressure mounting on coach Bruno Genesio who received the dreaded vote of confidence from his chairman this week after two Ligue 1 defeats in a row.

Genesio's men sit a lowly eighth in the domestic league after successive losses to Dijon and Bordeaux and know it is imperative to make a good start to their new continental campaign.

But Lyon will be without top scorer Alexandre Lacazette whose injury problems struck again against Bordeaux with tests confirming he will now be out for at least a month with a hamstring tear.

Nabil Fekir, Mathieu Valbuena and Christophe Jallet are also definitely ruled out for Genesio's men, leaving him with precious few options as he looks to revitalise his ailing side.

However Genesio, who has come in for increasing criticism during his side's torrid start to the new season, is adamant his side has the quality and hunger to shrug off their recent setbacks.

He told a press conference: "We started well (against Bordeaux) but then we got sloppy - we were under too much pressure in the first half and we paid the price.

"We need to be tougher mentally if we are going to be able to overcome obstacles such as these."