World Soccer - UK (2020-11)

Lyon reign

supreme

The best teams are traditionally built

around a spine: centre-back, centre-

midfield, 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 first-

choice 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 world-

record. 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 had16 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 with15 minutes left

when Parris also saw red for two

Glenn Moore

Women’s Football

Winners...Lyon lift

the trophy for the

seventh time

Seven...Eugenie

Le Sommer, Wendie

Renard and Sarah

Bouhaddi have played

in every final victory

This was supposed to be the year that Lyon were

vulnerable...when it comes to the female game,

however, they remain supreme

French champions unstoppable in Europe

once again