Bayern beats Lyon 1-0 in Champions League semis

MUNICH (AP)—Bayern Munich heads to the second leg of its European Champions League semifinal against Lyon with a 1-0 lead and without star winger Franck Ribery.

Arjen Robben scored in the 68th minute Wednesday night to give Bayern Munich the first-leg victory in a rough match that saw both teams finish a man short.
Ribery was ejected in the 37th minute for a challenge after losing the ball and stepping on Lisandro’s ankle.
“After his red card I didn’t think we would win 1-0,” Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said. “I didn’t think it was a red card, but he stood on Lisandro’s foot a bit too long.”
Lyon defender Jeremy Toulalan also will be suspended for the second leg of the total-goals series on Tuesday in France. In the other semifinal, defending champion Barcelona is home next Wednesday trying to overturn a 3-1 deficit against Inter Milan.
“We still have a tough evening in Lyon. Nothing is decided yet,” Robben said. “We only have a small advantage.”
Robben thought the red card for Ribery may have been justified. Lisandro was carried off the field, then was booed by partisan fans when he returned.
“You can live with it. Of course he’s not the kind of guy who does those kinds of fouls,” Robben said. “But he went over the ball and it looked a bit dangerous. Also because Franck and I get fouled a lot and it’s good to see that referee is there and protects players.”
Toulalan received yellow cards from Italian referee Roberto Rosetti in the 51st and 54th minutes, the latter for fouling Bastian Schweinsteiger.
“I wish we’d scored another goal,” Schweinsteiger said.
Robben scored when he cut inside from the right flank and put the ball under goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a shot the deflected slightly off teammate Thomas Mueller, who ducked in an effort to avoid the ball. The deflection was enough to catch Lloris on the wrong foot.
“I am not looking for excuses,” Lyon coach Claude Puel said. “They put us under a lot of pressure from the start and we lost possession too quickly. Had we kept our man advantage, it may have been a different game. I could live with a loss, but I wish we’d scored.”
Bayern had more chances throughout the match, while Lyon relied on rare counterattacks and created few threats.
“The main thing is that we did not allow a goal. We can always score at least one goal on the road so it’s very important that we kept a clean sheet,” Bayern defender Philipp Lahm said. “It was a hard red card. He went after the ball but did not get to it. It was a pretty hard call. I hope that he’s only suspended for one game. Not only for us, but also for football because he’s a great footballer. And he would fit very well in a Champions League final.”