Final is a tale of two keepers
Lyon triumph over PSG in penalty shoot-out
Ultimately it came down to a tale of two goalkeepers: Katarzyna Kiedrzynek of challengers Paris Saint-Germain and Sarah Bouhaddi of defending champions Lyon. They had both kept clean sheets for 120 minutes of the Women’s Champions League Final. Both then made a save each in the first 14 penalties of the subsequent shoot-out.
With the score at the Cardiff City Stadium tied at 6-6, and volunteers looking thin on the ground, Kiedrzynek swapped roles, but the Pole shanked her kick horribly wide.
Kiedrzynek collapsed to the ground, but then had to haul herself up to stand between the sticks as Bouhaddi also traded positions. The French No1 struck the ball confidently past the deflated Kiedrzynek, then turned to run towards her team-mates who joyously engulfed her. Forty yards away another huddle formed, but one steeped in misery as the PSG players tried to console their distraught keeper.
Tactically, PSG had outsmarted Lyon, suffocating their rivals’ creative players and making the better chances. In the first half, Bouhaddi had to deny the excellent Shirley Cruz Trana when the Costa Rican broke through and Cristiane surprisingly shot over. Cruz Trana created the best chance of all for Marie-Laure Delie in the second period, but the ball rolled agonisingly wide. For all their possession, Lyon created little. When a free-kick did fall to Ada Hegerberg she uncharacteristically missed, being denied by Kiedrzynek and then poking the rebound wide.
It emerged later that the Norwegian, who was replaced on the hour, had started despite stomach illness. Lyon also gambled on the fitness of Alex Morgan, who had damaged a hamstring less than three weeks earlier, playing against PSG in the Division 1 Feminine. Morgan was never likely to be fit, and so it proved when she had to be replaced after 23 minutes, but her inclusion was no surprise. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas wants to raise Lyon’s profile in the USA and America’s best-known female footballer is his key weapon. There is already talk that she will return next season – as there also is with regard to Manchester City’s US loanee, Carli Lloyd.
Lyon are the nearest women’s football has to a Dream Team. Besides Morgan and UEFA Player of the Year Hegerberg, the squad includes German golden Olympians Dzsenifer Marozan and Josephine Henning, Canada’s Kadeisha Buchanan, the 2015 World Cup Young Player Saki Kumagai of Japan, Swedish veteran Caroline Segar and the core of the French team that start Euro 2017 as co-favourites, including Bouhaddi, Wendie Renard, Camille Abily and Eugenie Le Sommer.
Such a concentration of quality brings results. This was Lyon’s fourth Champions League success in seven years and also completed back-to-back trebles, having wrapped up their 11th successive league title, then defeated PSG, again 7-6 on penalties, in the Final of the Coupe de France. Yet despite overseeing these triumphs, coach Gerard Precheur is moving on, one reason being Aulas judging his command of English insufficient. Taking over is Reynald Pedros, a TV pundit who played for the French men’s team in the 1990s.
For PSG, defeat was doubly grievous. Having finished third in Division 1 Feminine they needed to win to qualify for the Champions League next season. Their supporters, who did much to make a terrific atmosphere in Cardiff, rallied behind Kiedrzynek, but next season could be a difficult one. The gifted Brazilian Cristiane is leaving to play in China, stalwart Sabrinna Delannoy, 31, is retiring, and the loss of Champions League football will affect player recruitment and retention.
Montpellier usurped PSG to join Lyon in next season’s competition, their reappearance after eight years a reward for steady improvement by a team with a strong Swedish accent in the shape of Stina Blacksteinius, Sofia Jakobsson and Linda Sembrant.
Making their debut in the competition will be Fiorentina, who in 2015 became the first Serie A club to establish a women’s team. Third in their inaugural campaign La Viola secured this season’s Femminile title with a match to spare,
defeating Tavagnacco 2-0 at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The Spanish league concluded with Atletico Madrid winning the title on the final day. It was their first crown, underlining the growing depth of the Spanish game. This year Barcelona became the nation’s first Champions League semi-finalists while Valencia drew 17,000 to La Mestella for the derby with Levante. Atletico Madrid, who were unbeaten all season, also registered five-figure gates when playing at the now de-commissioned Vicente Calderon.
Bayern Munich qualified for next season’s campaign, but only after a 4-0 win at Turbine Potsdam enabled them to leapfrog their hosts into second place. The final goal was scored by Vivianne Miedema, the Dutch striker’s last act before joining Arsenal.
Wolfsburg had already secured the title, and they followed up by completing the double defeating Sand 2-1.