LYON WIN FINAL REPEAT
In the UEFA Women’s Champions
League quarter-finals, holders Lyon
beat Wolfsburg home and away in a
repeat of the 2018 Final.
Having won 2-1 in France, Dzsenifer
Marozsan scored early on in Germany
to set the visitors up for a 4-2 win
on the night as they chase a fourth
successive title.
They will meet Chelsea in the semi-
finals after the English champions beat
Paris Saint-Germain. PSG wiped out
Chelsea’s 2-0 home win within an hour
in the return, but in the 91st minute
Norway’s Maren Mjelde struck to give
the away side a 3-2 aggregate win.
In the other half of the draw,
Barcelona eased to a 4-0 victory over
LSK Kvinner of Norway, while Bayern
Munich followed a 1-1 draw in Prague
with a 5-1 home win over Slavia.
The semi-finals are due to take place
on April 20/21 and 27/28.ARGENTINA SET TO START
SEMI-PRO LEAGUE
In a dramatic shift in policy, the
Argentine Football Association has
announced plans for a semi-pro
women’s league with a minimum
of eight professionals per club.
The federation will subsidise clubs
to the tune of $3,000 a month and
minimum wages are set at around $90
a week. Two years ago the national
team went on strike as they were not
receiving their $10-a-day expenses
while on international duty. The sport
was then largely ignored, but the
national team attracted 11,500 to
November’s successful World Cup
qualifying play-off.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, a broadcast
deal for the domestic league has been
agreed with social-media outlet Twitter.NINE BID FOR WORLD CUP 2023
A joint Korean bid was the most eye-
catching of a record nine submitted to
host the 2023 World Cup. Japan also
bid, along with Argentina, Australia,
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, New Zealand
and South Africa. The decision will be
made in March 2020.RECORD 155 NATIONS PLAYING
The spring FIFA women’s rankings
featured 155 nations, a new record.
However, this still leaves 56 FIFA-
recognised nations either without a
women’s team or one that has been
inactive for at least 18 months.PSG FANS SENT HOME
A group of Paris Saint-Germain fans
were prevented from attending the
Champions League tie at Chelsea after
knives, knuckledusters and class A
drugs were found on their coach.
PSG strongly defended their fans,
stating there was “no justification” for
the police action.them. Fellow League Two club Notts
County disbanded their WSL team two
years ago.
England manager Phil Neville has
called for WSL clubs to follow the lead
of Atletico Madrid and Juventus, saying:
“There are some [WSL] teams, the big
teams, who have got to open their big
stadiums and fill them.”
Brighton & Hove Albion were first to
respond and will stage their final match
of the season, against Arsenal, at the
men’s 30,000-capacity AMEX Stadium.
In the past such experiments have drawn
moderate numbers, but there does seem
a new mood and plenty will hope that
the Seagulls succeed.Round-up
Support...Chelsea
fans at Kingsmeadow
Going pro...Boca
Juniors’ Micaela Cabrera
(left) and Daiana Gomes
Fretes of LanusBarred...PSG fansGoal...Lyon’s
Lucy Bronze
celebrates