[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] France's hard-luck team has finally done it. During its reign of seven straight league titles, Lyon never could advance as far as the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.

Now, on its fourth try, it knocked off the defending French champion, Bordeaux, advancing to the final four when its 1-0 loss on Wednesday was enough to it through 3-2 on aggregate.

"It's good to get there," Lyon coach Claude Puel said. "My thoughts are for the president [Jean-Michel Aulas]. The group has experienced difficult things in the past."

Moroccan Marouane Chamakh scored the game's only goal on the stroke of halftime.

Goalie Hugo Lloris, expected to France's No. 1 goalie at the World Cup, made a key save late in the game to preserve Lyon's advantage.

Aulas, who built Lyon into France's richest and most successful club, said it will face a difficult opponent in Bayern Munich, who came back to eliminate Manchester United after trailing, 3-0, in the first half at Old Trafford.

"We saw this evening that they're strong mentally," he said. "Trailing, 3-0, they came back against Manchester and finally went went through. That's quite an accomplishment to qualify against them."