Champions League review
French champions unstoppable in Europe once again
The best teams are traditionally built around a spine: centre-back, centremidfield, centre-forward. By the time Lyon arrived in the Champions League final in San Sebastian, they had lost starters in all three positions to injury, and their back-up striker to suspension. Rather than collapse without their firstchoice spine, they simply tore Wolfsburg apart down the right flank instead, lifting their fifth successive European crown and seventh in total. No Ada Hegerberg, no Amandine Henry, no Griedge Mbock Bathy, no Nikita Parris – no problem.
This was supposed to be the year that Lyon were vulnerable. It was not just the injuries; better-resourced clubs such as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City are all stepping up their investment in their women’s teams. Lyon are a wealthy club, but not in the first rank of European superpowers.
When it comes to the female game however, they remain supreme. In this mini-tournament they were stretched by both Bayern Munich in the quarter-final and PSG in the semi-final. But on both occasions their quality, experience and resilience took them through. Wolfsburg, now beaten by Lyon in five successive Champions League seasons, three times in finals, were actually the least troubling of their opponents in the Basque Country.
For the German champions, time may be running out. The transfer of Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir to Lyon mid-campaign seems emblematic of their fate. The Iceland midfielder deputised superbly for Henry in the final and afterwards had a pick of medals – having played for both teams in the competition she was uniquely eligible for both winners and runners-up baubles.
Even more significant in the long-term is the departure of Pernille Harder to Chelsea, for a fee reported to be as high as £300,000 – a worldrecord. Harder will be difficult to replace, even if that fee is put to use. Though this was their first defeat since losing to Lyon in the last eight in March 2019, the Lady Wolves are in danger of being drawn into the pack behind Lyon, instead of leading the chase.
The last eight began well enough for Wolfsburg with a 9-1 demolition of Glasgow City, Harder scoring four. It was an unsurprising result considering the part-timers had played once since October, and that in February. On the same night, Barcelona eventually broke down a determined defensive display by an Atletico Madrid side hampered by COVID quarantine and a high player turnover since March. Midfielder Kheira Hamraoui, twice a winner with Lyon, broke Hedvig Lindahl’s resistance ten minutes from time.
The next evening Parris bravely headed Lyon into the lead against Bayern, Amel Majri adding a second from a free-kick. That was enough to withstand a Bayern rally following Carolin Simon’s reply. It set up an all-French semi as PSG defeated a rusty-looking Arsenal by the same scoreline. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Signe Bruun took advantage of some sleepy defending either side of Beth Mead’s neat strike.
Mead was actually fractionally offside, but VAR was only used for the final, which seemed odd given that it was in both stadia, and was used for every game in the matching mini tournaments for the men’s Champions League and Europa League.
The first semi-final, in San Sebastian’s Anoeta, was a missed opportunity for Barcelona, who had 16 attempts on goal but forced only one save. Wolfsburg were more accurate even if Fridolina Rolfo’s winner in the 58th minute was somewhat scrambled.
“We did everything except score,” said Caroline Graham Hansen, while team-mate Alexia Putellas added:
“I think we’re on the right track but we are not there yet. The ceiling just gets higher but comparatively we are progressing.”
A night later in Bilbao there was another tight match between the twin titans of the French game, and it was another one settled in Lyon’s favour. The game turned in the 65th minute when Grace Geyoro was shown a second yellow for a foul on Lucy Bronze. From Majri’s free-kick, Wendie Renard scored from a typical towering header. PSG were given hope with 15 minutes left when Parris also saw red for two
This was supposed to be the year that Lyon were vulnerable…when it comes to the female game, however, they remain supreme
cautions, but Lyon held firm.
Eugenie Le Sommer replaced Parris in the final, and scored the opening goal, set up by Delphine Cascarino who combined with Bronze on the right to devastating effect. Cascarino also created the second, finished by Saki Kumagai. It looked all over at half-time but Wolfsburg rallied, Alexandra Popp heading in just before the hour. Their hope persisted until the 88th minute before being cruelly dashed as Le Sommer’s wide shot was smartly deflected in by Gunnarsdottir, so recently their team-mate.
Lyon last lost in May 2018, but if the constant diet of success has jaded appetites they hid it well. Le Sommer, Renard and Sarah Bouhaddi have played in all seven Champions League successes but they celebrated as if it was the first. “My players have a thirst for trophies, I’ve never seen that so apparent as now,” said Jean-Luc Vasseur, the Lyon coach.
They’ve now lost the departed Bronze and Alex Greenwood to Manchester City, but Bouhaddi and Dzsenifer Marozsan have signed new deals after flirting with NWSL, Hegerberg took advantage of the COVID break to have surgery on a niggling injury, and talented young Australian Ellie Carpenter has joined. Lyon may have missed out on the likes of Rose Lavelle, Sam Kerr and Harder, but they remain the team to beat.