Shevchenko relieved by Juninho's absence

Asked by French paper L'Equipe on Monday if Juninho's absence will be an advantage for the visitors, the Ukrainian star said: "Yes, [because] Lyon are more likely to get several free-kicks at home."

The Brazilian international playmaker will be serving an automatic one-match suspension when his side hosts Milan in the first-leg of the quarter-finals.

"Juninho is unbelievable, from my point of view, he executes free-kicks even better than Ronaldinho because he can deliver them in different styles," Shevchenko said.

Juninho, famous of his venomous set-pieces, has found the net 26 times from free-kicks since signing for the French Champions in 2001.