Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas believes the modified Champions League format has enhanced the prospects of his club winning the competition for the first time.
1-0 up against Italian champions Juventus going into the second leg of the Round of 16 tie in early August, OL are bidding to qualify for the final tournament in Lisbon where the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be one-off matches.
Aulas told RMC: "Do I think we're going to win the Champions League? I don't believe that. But I know that football is made up of very beautiful stories and that lads from underprivileged areas succeed and become internationals and play for huge clubs because OL hive them their chance. We need to throw everything into this year's Champions League as there aren't many games to play."
The president continued: "The fact that we'll be playing behind closed doors and that we won the first leg against Juventus, and then that subsequent matches will be over one leg rather than two, well that means we have never been so close to losing but also to winning. We must be pragmatic. If we are going to dream then we must all dream together."
