The Lyonnaises, after overturning the semi-final first leg (3-2), qualified for their 11th Champions League final by beating PSG on Saturday (2-1) and will meet the Barcelona, defending champions, on May 25 in Bilbao.
Out of 17 appearances, OL will therefore be playing their 11th final, 5 more than any other team in the competition. His experience has paid off again and will be crucial in the final: Lyon, which has won the trophy 8 times, has lost only twice in the final, winning the last eight it has played including that of 2022, already against Barça.
OL must “win and go to the end of all the competitions that the club starts”, assured Sonia Bompastor, while OL returned to the Champions League final after being eliminated in the quarter-finals. last year, adding “that these are the ambitions of the club and my personal desire, by being at the head of OL with these means”.
After a stunning first leg (3-2), the return match was a little less gripping at the Parc des Princes and in front of 30,000 people including thousands of Parisian ultras.
Despite their will and their positive speech, the Parisiennes did not manage to reverse the situation as OL were able to do last week, making too many tactical errors in defense.
The joy of the Lyonnaises, qualified for the final of the Champions League, after eliminating PSG, April 28, 2024 at the Parc des Princes / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Between the two “best enemies”, the main thing was decided in the first period.
On a combination worked on a corner, Selma Bacha dampened the hopes of Jocelyn Prêcheur’s players by opening the score at the start of the match (1-0, 3rd) with a small net shot from the left, deceiving her teammate in the French team Constance Picaud, who then made a series of decisive saves: 7 saves, including 5 during the second half.
Dumornay, “world-class player”
Paris was also saved by some defensive interventions, but the French international Elisa De Almeida missed her match in the duel with Melchie Dumornay, when others sometimes left too many spaces into which the Lyonnaises rushed.
They “lacked character during certain key moments” and “made a lot of errors, whether technical or tactical”, but “the girls gave their all until the end”, reacted coach Jocelyn Prêcheur, making reference to young defenders Eva Gaetino, Thiniba Samoura and Jade Le Guilly, all in their twenties and without experience until now.
The Parisian start came as often from the talent of Tabitha Chawinga, perfectly launched by the very discreet Katoto, before adjusting Christiane Endler with a cross strike (41st), under the eyes of Warren Zaire-Emery, club president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
Selma Bacha scores for Lyon against PSG, in the semi-final return of the Champions League, April 28, 2024 at the Parc des Princes / FRANCK FIFE / AFP
The Parisians, who did not have the statistics on their side against OL, will not play a third final, despite being convinced of being able to turn the tide before the return match like their male counterparts against Barça.
In the C1 semi-final, OL have still not lost to PSG: in 2016, 2020 and 2022 and therefore 2024.
And this season, the numbers are also for Wendie Renard’s teammates: four victories (Trophée des champions, D1 first leg, two C1 semi-finals) and one draw (D1 second leg).
After playing a crazy last ten minutes last Saturday, scoring three goals, the Lyonnaises, decimated by injuries between Eugénie Le Sommer, Ada Hegerberg, Griedge Mbock and Delphine Cascarino, left injured at half-time on Sunday, controlled the game more Sunday.
They largely dominated the second half, while narrowly missing Constance Picaud’s goal. But once again it was experience that paid off.
Patient, they delivered the final blow to their rivals thanks to Melchie Dumornay (81st), scorer in both confrontations and passer on Bacha’s goal. The former Rémoise is a “world-class player who knows how to play in several positions”, in the words of her coach Sonia Bompastor.
