So near, so far for Mourinho and Real.
Despite his team hitting the woodwork twice and having a decent penalty shout denied, Jose Mourinho could not end Real's run against its bête noire from Ligue 1, Olympique Lyonnais. The French side is unbeaten by Real in the Champions League and recovered from a pummeling at the beginning of the second half on Tuesday night to retain that record with a 1-1 tie at Stade Gerland.
Mourinho has some decisions to make, and some luck to ride, if Real is to progress in the return leg. A 1-1 draw against Lyon is not a bad result -- better than Manuel Pellegrini's Blancos managed last year -- but the Ligue 1 side showed it is quite capable of hitting the target at least once at the Bernabeu, as it did last year.
Here are four talking points from the game:
Marcelo: Mourinho's defensive caution was understandable. Lyon is a swift counterattacking team quite able to play Madrid at its own game, and Claude Puel set up his team to match Mourinho's in all areas of the field. So Mourinho kept the Brazilian flyer Marcelo on the bench to start the match so his team could try to keep Lyon in check.
By far, Michel Bastos was Lyon's most dangerous player on the night. He ran Real's defense ragged. Alvaro Arbeloa is no attacking threat in the Marcelo mold, but he leaves fewer gaps for opposing teams to exploit. But with Olympic in control of the midfield for most of the first half, an explosive full back such as Marcelo could have given Emmanuel Adebayor more support.
Sergio Ramos: Ramos doesn't offer the same threat going forward as Marcelo, although he would walk into almost any international team in the right-back position. However, incurring a yellow card in the first 10 minutes of a Champions League tie is a serious setback to the team as a whole. Ramos has a clean slate, as does Xabi Alonso, as the knock-out stage begins, but only because Mourinho's pugilistic pair incurred a second caution against Ajax in the group stage, prompting a one-match suspension in the stage's final (meaningless) game against Auxerre.
Ramos and Alonso are joint leaders of the issued cards table in Europe. This has to worry Mourinho. While Ramos can reasonably expect some individual attention at the Bernanbeu, Bastos' one-match ban after he caused the referee to dip into his top pocket may prove as decisive as anything else in the tie.
Benzema vs. Adebayor: Mourinho posited that Adebayor would provide a fulcrum for a different Real approach, holding up the ball or providing a battering ram to breach Lyon's defense on set-pieces when counters broke down. As it transpired, the Togolese barely touched the ball and Real's attacks often shattered on the player designed to facilitate them. Cue Benzema: The much-maligned former Lyon striker responded to a standing ovation at Stade Gerland by showing the home fans of his former team the player they had idolized. After little more than a minute on the pitch, Benzema glided across the 18-yard line and scored. He may be profligate in the league, but in cup competitions he has scored 13 times. Far from being solved, Mourinho's striker dilemma has become a double-edged sword. Adebayor does not yet fit Real's counter-attacking style; Benzema provides valuable link play, but has scored just three in the league. It may not be long before Mourinho tries both his strikers together in a foregone conclusion of a league match.
The woodwork: As luck played its part in Karim Benzema's goal -- the France striker's shot went through Hugo Lloris' legs -- it also prevented Real from sealing the tie in the first leg. Twice within a minute at the start of the second half, Real rattled Lloris' goal frame. Last season, Gonzalo Higuain's shot against the post was a few inches from giving Real victory at the Bernabeu, but Lyon held on for a 1-1 tie that saw the French side through to the last eight. Real has not passed the first knock-out round in six seasons. On Tuesday, it's fair to say that lady fortune curled her lip at Mourinho's team.