Tag: Women’s Champions League

Aitana, Alexia both strike as Barcelona claims third Women’s Champions League crown

Barça is once again in a class of its own after seeing off Lyon’s challenge in the UWCL final

Barcelona made sure that the Jonatan Giráldez era will end in style.

Barça on Saturday won the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the third time, outlasting Lyon 2-0 before a crowd of 50,827, a record for a Women’s Champions League final.

Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas scored second-half goals for Barça, which defended its UWCL title. Along with this season’s league and cup double in Spain, the Catalan side has won three of the last four Champions Leagues, with the streak only interrupted by a shock loss to Lyon in the 2021-22 final.

Giráldez will leave Barcelona at the end of the Spanish season to take charge of the Washington Spirit, who made the impressive move of signing the Spanish coach away from what is considered the biggest club in women’s soccer. His final match in charge will be June 16’s Liga F clash with Valencia.

Thoughts about that were put to the side at San Mámes, where Barcelona was more often than not able to play Lyon on its own terms.

However, the French giants — featuring U.S. women’s national team star Lindsey Horan — held firm through the first half, raising memories of how things played out two years ago.

Additionally, Lyon had entered the match having won every single one of the past four meetings between these sides, even as Barcelona has otherwise seemed to take over as the club perceived to be the world’s best.

However, any Barça worries were settled by Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, whose angled shot in the 63rd minute took a fortuitous deflection off of Damaris Egurrola to zip past goalkeeper Christiane Endler.

Lyon predictably responded by throwing the kitchen sink at Barcelona, including sending star striker Ada Hegerberg — a fitness doubt coming into the final — into the fray.

Barça had some narrow escapes, particularly on some deep crosses into heavy traffic that pushed Cata Coll to her limits.

A late equalizer felt like a possibility, but Barcelona had the perfect answer. Once again the attack came to the left of Endler’s goal, with Clàudia Pina cutting back from the endline to set Alexia Putellas up for a precise first-time shot.

The stoppage-time strike settled the match, setting off delirious celebrations for a heavily pro-Barça crowd.

“I’m really happy,” Giráldez told DAZN after the match. “One of the best days of my life, for sure. We did an amazing job… we suffered in the last minutes, but I’m very proud of [the team].”

Giráldez’s departure may well prove to be a major factor in European women’s soccer, but Barcelona will still carry on with an extremely formidable lineup. On Tuesday, the club announced that it had signed Alexia to a contract extension through 2026, settling rumors that one of the team’s biggest stars could possibly be on her way out this summer.

In other words, the star-studded squad figures to have a serious chance of making it three in a row at this time next year.

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Barcelona vs. Lyon: How to watch Women’s Champions League final, live stream

Two of Europe’s most successful clubs will meet in a high-profile final

Barcelona takes on Lyon on Saturday in a high-profile UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

The Catalan side will be looking for its second straight European title, having defeated Wolfsburg in last year’s final.

The Blaugrana have now made it to four UWCL finals in a row, and fifth in six seasons.

Barcelona head coach Jonatan Giráldez will look to sign off with a treble, having already won the Copa de la Reina and Liga F titles this season. Giráldez will take over as Washington Spirit head coach following the conclusion of this season.

Lyon is also no stranger to the UWCL final, as the French power gets set to participate in the showpiece for the 11th time, all of which have come since 2010.

The most recent of Lyon’s eight UWCL titles came in 2022 when it beat Barcelona in the final in Turin.

Lyon will be looking to clinch a double, having won Division 1 Féminine last week by defeating PSG in the final.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Barcelona vs. Lyon (UWCL final)

  • When: Saturday, May 25
  • Where: San Mamés Stadium (Bilbao, Spain)
  • Time: 12 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: DAZN on YouTube.

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Hayes slams Chelsea-Barcelona ref for ‘worst decision in Women’s Champions League history’

“We were robbed,” fumed Hayes in a post-match press conference

Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes tore into referee Iuliana Demetrescu after her side saw a first-leg lead over Barcelona evaporate in Saturday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal.

Chelsea managed a stunning win in Spain last week, but lost the second leg 2-0 amid multiple controversial calls.

Canada defender Kadeisha Buchanan was given a second yellow card in the 59th minute after a tackle on Patri Guijarro, drawing strenuous disagreement from Chelsea (and many neutral observers).

With the resulting numerical superiority, Barça would go on to claim the winning goal on a penalty kick given over modest contact as Aitana Bonmatí tumbled amid pressure from Jess Carter and Ashley Lawrence.

Speaking at a press conference after the match, Hayes didn’t hold anything back when it came to Demetrescu’s performance.

“I didn’t think it was a foul, let alone a yellow card,” was Hayes’ read on the red card. “I think that is probably the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions league history…

“I stood there and looked at the fourth official and said ‘surely that will be checked,’ and she said ‘it can’t on a yellow.’ There’s nothing you can do when it’s such a terrible decision and it’s already hard enough [to face Barcelona].

“Second half, we were getting on top, the players were confident, so when you get such a shocking decision… There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s hard enough to play against Barça with 11. When we have 10, it’s impossible.”

Hayes: ‘We were robbed’

Hayes continued with her criticism of Demetrescu, calling her “famous for easy cards” and expressing surprise that UEFA gave the assignment to the 34-year-old.

UEFA had only given Demetrescu two previous assignments as a center referee during this edition of the UWCL, with the Romanian calling Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 win over Roma in December and a January match that saw BK Häcken and Paris FC battle to a scoreless draw. Per Soccerway, Demetrescu doled out 10 bookings across those two encounters.

The defeat came as a bitter blow for Hayes, who will depart Chelsea at the end of this season to take over as the U.S. women’s national team’s head coach. With this last chance at UWCL glory gone, Hayes’ final match in charge for the Blues will be May 18’s trip to face Manchester United.

“I’m gutted for [the players]. We were robbed,” said Hayes. “We’d just hit the post. We could feel the momentum [changing] but didn’t have the chance to experience that.”

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Barcelona vs. Chelsea: How to watch UWCL, live stream

Last season’s winner hosts Emma Hayes and Co. in the first leg

Barcelona hosts Chelsea on Saturday as the Blaugrana continue their quest for back-to-back UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.

These two sides met in the semifinal last season, and Barça will look to get off on the right foot in the last four with a positive result in the first leg.

Both managers, Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez and Chelsea’s Emma Hayes, will be departing after this season for jobs in the United States. Giráldez will take over as Washington Spirit head coach while Hayes will manage the U.S. women’s national team.

Hayes will be especially keen to end on a high, as she has won a host of domestic trophies but has never lifted the UWCL.

Barcelona is still on track for a quadruple this season, but Chelsea has stuttered in recent weeks with eliminations from the League Cup as well as the FA Cup.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Barcelona vs. Chelsea (UWCL semifinal)

  • When: Saturday, April 20
  • Where: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (Barcelona)
  • Time: 7:30 a.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: DAZN on YouTube.

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Gaetino anticipates ‘incredible’ challenge from Horan, Lyon in Women’s Champions League

Eva Gaetino highlighted USWNT captain Lindsey Horan as Lyon’s most important player ahead of Saturday’s semifinal

Eva Gaetino hasn’t gone up against Lindsey Horan all that often in her young career, but she’s seen enough of the U.S. women’s national team captain to be impressed.

Ahead of a UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal between Gaetino’s Paris Saint-Germain and Horan’s Lyon, the 21-year-old highlighted the USWNT veteran as possibly the most important player in the tie.

In quotes published by Goal, Gaetino made it clear that she spent some of her first USWNT camp paying close attention to Horan, and praised the 29-year-old’s all-around game.

“I think even just being in camp with her and being on her team and seeing her strengths, she’s incredible on both sides of the ball,” explained Gaetino. “She’s very dynamic in the attack, very creative, and is also a very good defender. Having to face her higher up the field is exciting for me because I look up to her so much.”

Gaetino ‘excited’ to face Horan, Lyon

Despite going pro before finishing her collegiate eligibility and the big names on the PSG roster, the 5-foot-11 Gaetino has pushed her way into regular starts already. The former Notre Dame captain has started seven games for manager Jocelyn Prêcheur since arriving in the French capital.

That puts her in line to face Lyon in the biggest pair of games in PSG’s season. The Parisians will play the first leg at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium on Saturday, before hosting the second leg at the Parc des Princes on April 28.

Gaetino — who only signed with PSG earlier this year —  indicated that she knows full well that PSG faces a really difficult task against Lyon, a perennial Champions League finalist and a side that has more often than not bested PSG in domestic play.

“They have world-class players and even in my [30] minutes against them previously, just the types of crosses that they were hitting and the runners and the timing of their headers, it’s a huge threat,” said Gaetino, whose professional debut came in Division 1 Féminine play against Lyon in February. “I think that’s going to be a huge challenge and I’m excited for it.”

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Wolfsburg stun Arsenal to reach UWCL final in front of record Emirates crowd

A crowd of 60,000 got their money’s worth — though the Gunners fell just short in a thriller

Monday was a record-breaking evening in north London but unfortunately for Arsenal, it did not include a famous victory over German powerhouse Wolfsburg.

Pauline Bremer scored in the 119th minute to seal a thrilling Women’s Champions League semifinal tie, giving the visitors a 3-2 win on the night and a 5-4 win on aggregate.

The goal soured what was otherwise a massive occasion for the women’s game, as an announced crowd of 60,063 set a record for the largest attendance for a women’s club match in England. That figure broke the previous record of 49,094 set in the 2022 FA Cup final.

The Gunners and Wolfsburg traded goals in a back-and-forth affair. Stina Blackstenius gave Arsenal the lead in the11th minute, before Jill Roord and Alex Popp scored on either side of halftime to put the German side back in front.

But the home side would answer when Jen Beattie headed home a dramatic equalizer in the 75th minute that sent the tie into extra time.

Just as it appeared the affair would be settled on penalties, Lotte Wubben-Moy was caught in possession by Jule Brand, who crossed for Bremer to tap home and give Wolfsburg a stunning late win.

Wolfsburg advanced to the Champions League final against Barcelona on June 3. The German side will be looking for its third Champions League title and first since 2014.

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Chelsea fends off Lyon as UWCL quarterfinal goes into Twilight Zone

The UWCL drama levels, and the strangeness, were extremely high

Chelsea and Lyon played out a UEFA Women’s Champions League classic on Thursday, with the finish containing equal parts weirdness and drama

The Blues emerged victorious on penalties despite losing 2-1 on the night, with Maren Mjelde’s spot kick in the eighth minute of stoppage time leveling the aggregate scoreline at 2-2 with the game’s final touch.

Ann-Katrin Berger then emerged as the hero, saving two spot kicks to end Lyon’s reign as the champions of Europe.

Chelsea won the first leg 1-0 in France, setting up an extremely tense second leg. Both teams pursued the opening goal, and between that exuberance, typically rainy London conditions, and desperation from both teams to win, a true battle played out at Stamford Bridge.

Berger stopped an early Delphine Cascarino chance (with Lindsey Horan inches away from poking the rebound home), only for Christiane Endler to respond by denying a Sam Kerr one-on-one later in the first half.

The tension kept going up, and the game got progressively more strange. Melanie Leupolz had to leave the match a bloody mess after she was struck in the face by Danielle van de Donk’s trailing hand. A short-handed Chelsea would end up withdrawing their entire central midfield for a range of reasons, while a typically stacked Lyon was able to turn to the likes of Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsán off the bench.

Finally a goal came, and for Lyon it was symbolic of how scrappy they had to be to gain an edge over Chelsea on the night. A recycled set piece was chested down by Wendie Renard to Horan, who had just enough speed to round Jess Charles and hit a blind cross along the endline.

Vanessa Gilles had stayed forward, and did just barely enough to reach a foot out before Magdalena Eriksson could arrive, somehow prodding the ball towards goal, off Berger’s upper arm, and (by mere inches) over the line.

Through sheer willpower, Lyon appeared to have gained an edge as Chelsea’s energy levels flagged. Extra time largely saw the visitors look more potent, and if anything a goal for the defending champions felt inevitable.

In the 110th minute, the pressure finally told. Vicki Bècho’s clever flick gave Lyon width, and Hegerberg’s cross from the right floated just out of Eriksson’s reach. With the rest of the Chelsea defense too stagnant, Sara Däbritz’s bobbling finish — while far from convincing — was just enough to get past Berger.

Chelsea began the predictable “last chance saloon” approach, hoofing it long and hoping for the best. Lyon, with a team stocked with strong headers and seeming to have more energy, looked solid.

However, with essentially the last play of the match, the French giants couldn’t quite clear Berger’s free kick from midfield. Wendie Renard won the first header, but could only glance the ball away from the goalmouth. Kerr tried a cross, but Bècho beat multiple Chelsea players to the ball.

Chelsea’s Lauren James saw that header fall to her, and for a split-second, the option to shoot was open. James took another touch though, then tried to get to the endline. Bècho followed, and James hit the deck.

Initially, referee Ivana Martinčić had no interest in giving a penalty, but a two-minute VAR check (all coming after the two minutes of stoppage time that had initially been announced) centered on whether Bècho had clipped James, or if James had clipped her own feet.

At long last, Martinčić gave the penalty, but even that wasn’t enough drama for this match. It took over a minute from that point for Mjelde to have the ball on the spot, but there were still two more minutes to wait. The reason? Martinčić wanted every player from both teams, other than Mjelde and Endler, to clear out of the area. It seemed like this was a literal last kick.

More than three minutes after knowing she’d have to take a stoppage-time penalty in a UWCL quarterfinal against mighty Lyon, and with manager Emma Hayes literally unable to look, Mjelde held her nerve, powering the equalizer past one of the world’s best goalkeepers.

Chelsea shot first in the tiebreaker, and Mjelde — just four minutes in real time from when she’d beaten Endler the first time — was among the successful shots from both teams. However, Berger flew to her left to deny Renard in the third round, giving Chelsea the edge.

It lasted just moments. On the very next shot, Endler dove to her right to slap James’ penalty away, and Däbritz would bring Lyon back to even terms heading into the final round.

Jess Carter made no mistake for Chelsea, but with the game on the line, Berger read Horan’s intentions all the way, tipping the U.S. women’s national team star’s effort away.

Chelsea, despite looking like they’d run out of gas before crossing the finish line, were somehow through.

Having come through extraordinary drama, Chelsea joins Barcelona, Arsenal, and Wolfsburg — who knocked out France’s other big power, Paris Saint-Germain, earlier on Thursday — in the semifinal draw.

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Arsenal demolishes Lyon 5-1 in UEFA Women’s Champions League stunner

Beth Mead and Caitlin Foord both struck twice in a shocking result

2022 is a good year for women’s soccer in England, and Arsenal seems intent on keeping the party going.

The Gunners started their UEFA Women’s Champions League group schedule with arguably the most difficult assignment in women’s club soccer: a road game against Olympique Lyon. That’s defending UWCL champion Lyon, who generally pick a starting eleven that reads like a veritable world all-star team.

Despite all that, and being without Leah Williamson, and controversially starting with Vivianne Miedema on the bench, Arsenal made light work out of Lyon. The 2021-22 Women’s Super League runners-up crushed the French giants 5-1 at Groupama Stadium, with Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead both scoring twice.

While Lyon were missing multiple starters on their back line and up front, Arsenal were hardly expected to wipe the floor with them like this. Instead, the visitors were ruthless from start to finish, breaking a 22-game home unbeaten run for the defending champs. Arsenal’s five goals are the most any visiting team has ever scored on Lyon in competitive play

Arsenal opened the scoring in the 13th minute, with Kim Little playing a splendid ball in behind the Lyon defense for Mead, whose low cross found Foord wide open at the back post.

Eight minutes later Frida Maanum — in her first-ever Champions League start — doubled the lead. Arsenal again played a ball from deep in behind, catching Lyon’s defense unprepared. Christiane Endler kicked Stina Blackstenius’ initial shot away, but Maanum calmly tucked the rebound into the far corner.

While Melvine Malard pulled one back in the 27th minute, Arsenal got into the break with a two-goal edge thanks to Mead. The England star sent a low free kick around the Lyon wall, and Endler couldn’t keep the shot out despite getting a hand to it.

If Endler didn’t look good on that goal, another international star would look worse as Arsenal made it 4-1 in the 67th minute. France captain Wendie Renard went for a long cross-field switch, but fired the ball right to Foord instead, and the Australian settled before curling a beautiful shot past Endler, ending any real hope for Lyon to come back in the match.

Mead would add a fifth two minutes later, as more sloppy passing from Lyon handed Arsenal another chance to counter. Maanum picked off a back pass to no one in particular, and then saw Mead’s storming run from deep. Mead charged onto the ball, taking one touch before beating Endler with a powerfully-struck low shot.

 

Trying to salvage anything from the game, Lindsey Horan hit the post with a stoppage-time header for Lyon, but it simply was not her side’s day. Fortunately for them, there are still five more games in group C, though the pressure will be on both from a results perspective, and simply in terms of performance. They face a road match at Juventus next Thursday, October 27, and a loss would put them in truly dire straits in terms of getting to the knockout rounds.

Watch Arsenal hit Lyon up for five goals

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Ex-USWNT star Heather O’Reilly comes out of retirement to join Irish club Shelbourne FC

HAO slow down? Never

Heather O’Reilly is not slowing down even one tiny bit, with the Champions League now in her sights.

The former U.S. women’s national team winger put together 231 caps, won a World Cup and three different Olympic gold medals, picked up two NWSL championships at the club level, and more recently finished the Boston Marathon and appeared on American Ninja Warrior just months after having a second child.

O’Reilly’s entire career was defined by endless energy, and that trend is continuing. The ex-USWNT star announced on BBC’s World Football that she is coming out of retirement to sign with Irish club Shelbourne FC.

“I had a long, successful, trophy-ridden career and I am very proud of that, but there was this one hole on my resume that I never played Champions League football,” O’Reilly said. “It was a disappointing end to my time over with Arsenal when I wrapped up with them in 2018, it irked me, it bothered me. It was always a thing in the back of my head.”

O’Reilly credited a nudge from Arsene Wenger, who coached her team at Unicef’s Soccer Aid charity match, for her return to pro soccer.

Shelbourne won the Women’s National League in 2021 by a single point, and thus got themselves into the first round of Champions League qualifying. O’Reilly said that once she decided to pursue a UWCL appearance for the first time in her career, she touched base with the club, which is based in the Dublin suburbs.

“I reached out to them. I don’t know if it was known that I was interested in coming out of retirement,” said O’Reilly. “It has been three years nearly since I officially retired from club football. People needed to know that I was interested.”

O’Reilly and Shelbourne do not have an easy path to the Champions League group stage. UEFA’s convoluted qualification process sees Shelbourne in the first round of the Champions Path, which for them means a four-team mini-tournament that will be played from August 18-21 in a yet-to-be-determined location. They’ll face ZNK Pomurje of Slovenia, and if they advance, they get a game against either Icelandic side Valur or FC Hayasa of Armenia.

If Shelbourne comes through that test, they’ll join the other 10 winners of the Champions Path mini-tournaments, plus seeded sides Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Rosengård (Sweden), and HB Køge (Denmark), in the draw for the second round. Shelbourne would be paired off in that draw, facing a two-legged home-and-away tie in the last two weeks of September for a spot in the group stage.

If O’Reilly’s UWCL dream is successful, it will also be a big achievement for Irish women’s soccer. Only two clubs from Ireland have ever made it to the Champions League proper: Peamount United in 2011-12, and and Raheny United in 2014-15.

In the meantime, Shelbourne has a seven-point lead to maintain at the top of the WNL as they near the halfway point in the season.

“I’m chasing my dream,” added O’Reilly. “I had this unchecked box and I’m looking to go do it, and for good reasons. I’m thrilled about it, the club is thrilled about it, and I think it’s one of those situations where it’s just a win-win all around.”

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Catarina Macario was not amused after being left off the Champions League Team of the Season

The exasperated USWNT forward wondered what else she needed to do to make the UEFA squad

Catarina Macario had a pretty good Champions League campaign.

She scored nine goals, good for third in the competition. She scored in the final, becoming the first American to do so. And, oh yeah, she won the whole thing, with her first-half goal helping Lyon defeat Barcelona 3-1 in last weekend’s final.

So the U.S. women’s national team forward couldn’t help but notice when she was left out of UEFA’s Champions League Team of the Season. Upon seeing the selections, Macario took to Twitter to express her bemusement.

“Lol, nine goals, title winner … thanks for having me guys. I’ll try again next year,” an exasperated Macario tweeted.

Who made the Champions League Team of the Season?

Macario’s Lyon side took up six of the 11 spots on the Team of the Season, with fellow finalist Barcelona occupying four places. Marie-Antoinette Katoto of PSG was the only player not from the two finalists to make the squad

Goalkeeper: Christiane Endler (Lyon)

Defenders: Griedge Mbock Bathy (Lyon), Wendie Renard (Lyon) Mapi León (Barcelona), Selma Bacha (Lyon)

Midfielders: Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona), Patri Guijarro (Barcelona), Amandine Henry (Lyon), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

Forwards: Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain)

Lyon aiming for double

Following its Champions League win, Lyon will face its biggest domestic rival PSG in a league match on Sunday. A win or a draw against PSG would lock up a league title after PSG won the French top flight last season.

With two games remaining in the season Lyon has a five-point lead over PSG, meaning even with a defeat to PSG, Macario’s side would still clinch the title by defeating Issy on the season’s final day.

A league title would appear rather likely at this point: Lyon has 19 wins, one draw and no defeats in its 20 league games thus far.

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