Meet the UEFA Women’s Champions League finalists: Barcelona vs Lyon | UEFA Women’s Champions League

UEFA Women’s Champions League holders Barcelona will face record seven-time winners Lyon in the 2022 final at 19:00 CET on Saturday 21 May at Juventus Stadium in Turin.

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We feature the contenders with Barcelona keen to show how far they’ve come since their painful 4-1 defeat in their final debut against Lyon in Budapest three years ago, while OL are hoping to reclaim the home crowd that he lost after five seasons when the Blaugrana took over from them. in 2021.

Barcelona vs Lyon: previous fixtures

Final 2018/19: Lyon 4-1 Barcelona (Budapest)
Quarter-finals 2017/18: Barcelona 1-3 aggregate Lyon (first leg 0-1, return 1-2)

Ffirst team named at home in first leg

Barcelona (ESP, starters)

Ranking by UEFA coefficient (end of 2020/21): 2
How they qualified: Starters, Spanish champions
Group Stage: Winner of Group C (W6 D0 L0 F24 A1)
Quarter-finals: W8-3agg vs Real Madrid (W3-1a, W5-2h)
Semi-finals: W5-3agg vs Wolfsburg (W5-1h, 0-2a)
Top scorer: Alexia Putellas 10
Last season: winners
National record: 7 x league champions, 8 x cup winners
European Best Precedent: Winners (2020/21)



Semi-final highlights: Barcelona 5-1 Wolfsburg

Previous finals
2021: W4-0 against Chelsea (Gothenburg)
2019: L1-4 against Lyon (Budapest)

Campaign in a nutshell

Their progress through the group was never in doubt after Arsenal’s first 4-1 defeat and their performances throughout matched the dominance they showed by beating Chelsea 4-0 in the Champions League final. last season. It continued against Madrid as they needed to come from behind in both legs, doing it in style and snatching the Camp Nou record 91,553 attendance. That was improved when 91,648 were there as they beat Wolfsburg 5-1, although a 2-0 second leg defeat ended a 45-game winning streak.

Coach: Jonatan Giraldez

The former assistant to Lluís Cortés replaced the UEFA Women’s Champions League-winning coach last summer and kept Barcelona going without missing a step.

Key player: Alexia Putellas

The UEFA Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or winner continues to reach new heights, whether pushing from distance in midfield or racking up the goals in attack. Currently leading the top scorer race with ten goals but needs another assist to stay ahead of Wolfsburg’s Tabea Wassmuth assuming Alexia plays over an hour in Turin.

Did you know?

Barcelona were Spain’s first runners-up in 2019 and winners two years later.

Highlights of the 2021 final: Chelsea 0-4 Barcelona


Highlights of the 2021 final: Chelsea 0-4 Barcelona

Why they can win it

When they reached the 2019 final they were big underdogs against Lyon and four at half-time, although Asisast Oshoala got a late consolation. Two years later, they held a four-goal advantage at the break against Chelsea, and didn’t even concede in the second half.

It all but confirmed Barcelona as the continent’s new dominant force and their flawless run, until the trip to Wolfsburg, underscored that in a season where few other sides have come close to the long-serving Spanish champions. Sandra Paños is behind the tightest defenses and midfield and the attack is unstoppable, with Alexia, Aitana Bonmati, Caroline Graham Hansen and Jenni Hermoso, with Claudia Pina an emerging force meaning they could even allow the absences until recently of Lieke Martens and Oshoala.

DAZN/YouTube: Watch the season finale and highlights

Lyon (FRA)

Ranking by UEFA coefficient (end of 2020/21): 1
How he qualified: vice-champion of France; W4-2agg v Levante in Round 2
Group stage: Winners of Group D (W5 D0 L1 F19 A2)
Quarter-finals: W4-3agg vs Juventus (L1-2a, W3-1h)
Semi-finals: W5-3agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (W3-2h, W2-1a)
Top scorer (from the group stage): Catarina Macario 7
Last season: Quarter-finals
National record: 14 x league champions, 9 x cup winners
Best European previous: Winners (2010/11, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 – record)

Previous finals
2020: W3-1 against Wolfsburg (San Sebastian)
2019: W4-1 against Barcelona (Budapest)
2018: W4-1aet against Wolfsburg (Kyiv)
2017: D0-0aet, W7-6pens against Paris (Cardiff)
2016: D1-1aet, W4-3pens vs Wolfsburg (Reggio Emilia)
2013: L0-1 against Wolfsburg (London)
2012: W2-0 against Frankfurt (Munich)
2011: W2-0 against Turbine Potsdam (London)
2010: D0-0aet, L6-7pens against Turbine Potsdam (Getafe)

Watch highlights of Lyon's seven final wins and trophy lifts


Watch highlights of Lyon’s seven final wins and trophy lifts

Campaign in a nutshell

Went through a potentially tricky qualifying tie with Levante and, despite losing to Bayern, still sought top spot in Group D as they vied to bounce back from losing league status last season. Ada Hegerberg came back from a long-term injury and was soon back on goal, including a vital strike to erase OL’s first-leg deficit in the comeback against Juventus, a reminder of enduring strength of the French club. The topsy-turvy first leg against Paris ended 3-2, and Hegerberg and Wendie Renard struck to silence the Parc des Princes.

Coach: Sonia Bompastor

A great Lyonnaise as a player, she coached at the academy from 2013 until last April, when she took over the first team at the end of a rare trophyless season.

Key player: Ada Hegerberg

Out for more than 20 months, Hegerberg (who scored a first-half hat-trick in the 2019 final against Barcelona) was relieved after returning in October, but by December had returned to her old prolific form, breaking even more records in this contest. The Lyon team have evolved during his absence, but the striker’s presence now makes them look more like their old selves.

Highlights of the 2019 final: Lyon 4-1 Barcelona


Highlights of the 2019 final: Lyon 4-1 Barcelona

Did you know?

Lyon hold the competition records for title wins, final appearances, semi-final appearances (in fact, they have won their last nine), games played, goals scored and longest unbeaten run. This season, OL Melvine Malard also scored the historic first goal of the group stage and in the semi-finals, Wendie Renard became the only player to reach 100 games in this competition (OL are the only club to have accumulated a century).

Why they can win it

They start their tenth final as underdogs in a way they haven’t had in the previous nine, but the dominant force of the 2010s aren’t ready to concede the 2020s to Barcelona or anyone. either else. Wendie Renard, and possibly Sarah Bouhaddi, are set to contest a tenth full-fledged final, with Eugenie Le Sommer having also featured in all seven titles.

Renard herself has won 78 matches in this competition; Nope club other than Lyon has recorded 60 wins. And under Sonia Bompastor they have moved on, with Christiane Endler now first-choice keeper, Ellie Carpenter at right-back, Damaris Egurrola and Catarina Macario in midfield and rapidly developing Melvine Malard up front among those offering a new look with mainstays like Renard, Griedge Mbock Bathy, Kadeisha Buchanan and Delphine Cascarino.

Cup winners refer only to the main FA domestic cup in each country.

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