World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

56 WORLDSOCCER

Lyonreclaimtheir

Europeancrown

Lyonmeantbusiness.Thatwas
clearfromthemomentthe Women’s
ChampionsLeaguefinalkickedoff on
a steamyeveninginTurininfrontof
a passionate,largelyBarcelona-
supportingcrowd of 32,25 7.
Pressinghighandinpacksthey
disturbedthecustomaryélanand
poiseofthedefendingchampions,
penningthemback, forcingmistakes,
andscoringgoals– threeinthe
opening 33 minutes.
Thatwas,atleast,animprovement
onthe last time theteamsmet,inthe
2019 final,whenLyonwerefourupin
30 minutes. Butunlikein Budapest
itwas completelyunexpected.
Since thenBarca hadbeaten,well,
everybody, includingChelsea4-0inlast
year’sfinal,Arsenal4-0and4-1 in this
year’sgroupstage,andWolfsburg 5-1
andRealMadrid5-2 in theknockout
stages.

Addtherecord 9 0,000-pluscrowds,
andthe lustreof theBarca brand,and
theywerethesport’snew queens.
Lyon,thegame’sancienregime,
werepiqued.And in Turintheywasted
notimeshowingtheywerestillon the
throne.
After sixminutesAmandineHenry
crunchedintoa tackletowinpossession
offAlexiaPutellas,thencrackedina
stunning30-yarder. Thegifted Selma

Bachadelivereda sumptuous 2 3rd-

minutecrossthatAdaHegerberg,

skilfullypullingoffthecentre-halves,

headedhome.

Hegerbergthentookadvantageof

a befuddleddefencetogiveCatarina

Macariotheeasiestof tap-ins(which

inher surpriseshenearlymissed).

Gameover?Not quite.Justas

Chelseahadhadchanceslastyear,

whichthe usuallydeadlySamKerr

andPernilleHarderhadfailedtotake,

sohadBarcelona.JenniHermosowas

thisyear’sculprit.

ButPutellasdid geta goalback,

whippinginCaroline GrahamHansen’s

crossbefore thebreak. HadPatricia

Guijarro’saudacious50-yardergone

underthe barinsteadofhittingit,

Barca mayhavetaken advantage

ofthe momentumshift.

InsteadLyon,deployingall the

game-managementaccruedover

years of elite-level performance,

broke up playanddisruptedtheir

opponents’flow. They easedtotheir

eighthChampionsLeaguetitle,six

comingin thelastsevenseasons.

Theirsuperiorityhadbeenreasserted.

“Everydefeathurtsbutweknewthis

wasaveryimportantone as it wasthe

chanceto changehistoryinourfavour,”

saidBarcabossJonatan Giraldez,

recognisingtheperceptionshift.

“Myteamtalkwas very easy.

Thisisthemostbeautifulmatchand

beautifulcompetitiona clubcandream

ofplaying,” saidLyon’sSonia Bompastor,

thefirstwinningfemalecoachin 13

years,and thefirst to winasboth

a playeranda coach.

Thatjudgementhasneverbeen

moretrue,forthiswas arguablythe

mostsignificantcampaignsinceUEFA

rebranded it as theChampionsLeague,

withaone-off final,in 20 09.

Thisyeartherewasa groupstage,

centralisedbroadcasting,branding

andsponsorship separatefromthe

men’scompetition,andattractiveprize

money.Reachingthelast 1 6 wasworth

€400,000.WinnersLyonwillcollect

around€1.2m.Theseare sums to turn

clubexecutive heads,and,likecrowds

andclubcommercialdeals,theyare

onlygoingtoget bigger.

Moreclubswillinvest,and,ina

potentiallyconcerningdevelopmentfor

NWSL,playersworldwidewill wantto

beinvolvedina competitionthatdrew

viewersfrommorethan 20 0 countries.

Lyon’s UnitedStates international

LindsayHoransaidafterthematch:

“ThisiswhatI dreamedofasa littlegirl,

watchingthe men’s ChampionsLeague.

Lookatthisstadium,winninga game

likethisiseverything.”

TheNWSLhasmanycreditable

factors,andtheinjectionoftwo

Californianfranchiseshavehelped

lift it aftera difficultyear, butitcannot

offer anythingtotouchthe Champions

Leaguewhichnow lookssetto

dominate thewomen’sclub

gameasitdoesthemen’s.

GlennMoore

Women’sFootball

Backontop...Lyon’sAdaHegerberg

LyoneasedtotheireighthChampionsLeaguetitle,

sixcominginthelastsevenseasons.Their

superiorityhadbeenreasserted

Frenchgiantsreturntothetopof

Europeanfootballbybeatinglast

year’schampionsBarcelona

Heartbroken...

BarcelonaFemeni