Champions League review
Barca ready to replace Lyon as continent’s dominant side after Champions League win
A new era in women’s club football was launched when Barcelona obliterated Chelsea to become the first Spanish side to win the Women’s Champions League and the first club to win the competition in both genders. The Catalan giants scored three times in the opening 20 minutes of the Gothenburg final before settling for a 4-0 triumph that reverberated around the sport.
With both Lyon – champions for the previous five years – and their perennial rivals Wolfsburg knocked out in the quarter-finals, a new name was certain to be inscribed on the trophy. That it was one of football’s most illustrious marques underlined the sport’s new status.
Like many overnight successes this had been years in the making. Barcelona’s women’s team dates back to 1988 but was only fitfully supported and did not win the domestic title until 2012. That earned them a place in Europe only to be given a 7-0 aggregate schooling by Arsenal on debut.
With the game in Spain semi-pro at best, with long bus journeys to matches and training at 10pm, many of the better Spanish players – including Vicky Losada and Jenni Hermoso – went to the US, Sweden, Germany, France or England.
Some, however, stayed, like Alexia Putellas and Marta Torrejon, and pushed
A new name was certain to be inscribed on the trophy. That it was one of football’s most illustrious marques underlined the sport’s new status
to raise standards. Six years ago Barcelona went full-time and in 2018 agreed their own shirt sponsorship with tool company Stanley. As the Spanish league improved Hermoso and Losada came home. A clutch of high quality foreign players were signed too, notably Lieke Martens, after being the star of Euro 2017, Caroline Graham Hansen, a two-time UWCL runner-up with Wolfsburg, and Kheira Hamraoui, twice a winner with Lyon.
In Europe they got closer, and after reaching a trio of quarter-finals and the last four in 2017 they made the final in 2019. Lyon blew them away with four goals in the opening half-hour.
The players’ response was to ask coach Lluis Cortes to “work us harder”. A lot of the extra application was physical; they felt Lyon had overpowered them. “That day we promised ourselves we would work a lot to be European champions,” said Cortes.
It paid off. With seven of the XI that started in Budapest doing so in Sweden they “bullied” Chelsea, the WSL side’s manager Emma Hayes admitted, as well as being superior technically.
There was also a mental aspect. Barca tore at Chelsea from the kick-off with Martens’ shot against the bar after 30 seconds prompting a panicked response that ended with Fran Kirby’s clearance looping into the Chelsea net off Melanie Leupolz’s shins. Chelsea were shell-shocked and could have been three down before conceding a second in the 12th minute. That was a penalty converted by Putellas after Leupolz, attempting to block Hermoso’s shot, unluckily tripped her.
When the third goal was tucked away by Aitana Bonmati, following a bewitching phase of swift passing, it was all over. Chelsea’s makeshift fullbacks had been exposed by a pair of world-class wingers who rammed home their dominance when one laid on the fourth goal for the other, Martens skipping down the left before setting up Graham Hansen.
These individual mismatches were no surprise. More worrying for Hayes was how insecure and overwhelmed Chelsea were elsewhere. Her team did create chances, including at 1-0, but Pernille Harder, the sport’s most expensive player, and Sam Kerr, its most lethal finisher, missed them.
Chelsea, having wrapped up a successful defence of the WSL title the previous weekend, two points ahead of Manchester City, will be back. The club remain firmly behind the team with owner Roman Abramovich flying to Sweden for the final and visiting the players in the dressing room afterwards. “All the girls were quick to tell him we’ll be back here and working hard on the training pitch to make sure we do that,” said Hayes.
The mountain, however, is going to get steeper. Next season a revamped UWCL begins emulating the men’s competition with a group stage, centralised TV rights, and even its own anthem. There will also be more places – three initially – for clubs from the leading women’s leagues. Among those making their debuts are Milan and, probably, Real Madrid.
Suddenly women’s football is looking a lot like the men’s when it comes to names on trophies. In Italy, Juventus secured their fourth Scudetto in four years’ existence with their 20th victory in 20 league matches. They then looked to recruit outgoing Arsenal coach Joe Montemurro, a sure sign they want to up their game in Europe. In France and Germany, Paris Saint-Germain and
Bayern Munich appear poised to overhaul Lyon and Wolfsburg. In England, Leicester City gained promotion to a WSL increasingly comprised of Premier League clubs.
Lyon, for so long supreme, will not follow Umea, FFC Frankfurt and Turbine Potsdam – all multiple European winners in the past, into obscurity. The commitment of president Jean-Michel Aulas is too great, but their quarter-final loss to PSG signalled the end of their hegemony. The US offshoot OL Reign appears to be absorbing increasing attention and a rebuilding effort is needed under new coach Sonia Bompastor. Aiding her will be the return from injury of Ada Hegerberg.
Barcelona will not be easy to dethrone. They went into the final having clinched the Spanish title with eight games to spare after 26 straight victories. The confidence and lustre gained from European success will lift them again. It has been a long haul to the summit; they aim to stay there.