Blanc admits minnow status

Bordeaux boss happy to see two French sides in last eight

Last updated: 18th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Blanc admits minnow status

Blanc: Admits minnow status

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Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc admits that every side left in the UEFA Champions League will want to draw Les Girondins in the next round.

Bordeaux will be in the hat for the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition, which takes place on Friday, after seeing off Olympiakos 2-1 on aggregate in midweek.

While there is a team that Blanc would like to avoid in the next round, he realises nearly everyone else will want to be put up against his side.

"Seven teams will want to get Les Girondins de Bordeaux," he said in French newspaper L'Equipe.

"We will do our best, but we have to be aware of some realities.

"I would like to avoid Barcelona, because I believe they are the bogey of the competition, even if I could watch an amazing team on Tuesday night - Internazionale."

Bordeaux had to survive a late Olympiakos fightback on Wednesday but came through in the end, although Blanc admits the last section of the game was not enjoyable.

"There were really very good things until the 65th minute, when Alou Diarra was sent off," he added.

"I had fun seeing my team playing, notably during the first 25 minutes. Some players could join back the level they lost for some time."

With Bordeaux and Lyon in the last eight of the Champions League, it is the first time two French sides have been in the quarter-finals since 2004.

Former Manchester United defender and France international Blanc is happy to see the Ligue 1 sides performing well in Europe, and hopes it will continue in the future.

He remarked: "Le Championnat is good, but to definitely state it, we will have to see if French clubs could reach regularly quarter-finals.

"If they can make it, that would mean we have improved toward the other European leagues."