Turin [Italy], May 22 (ANI): Olympique Lyonnais won the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the eighth time as they dethroned holders Barcelona with a 3-1 victory in Turin on Saturday, all the goals coming in the first half.
Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg and Catarina Macario put Lyon three up before Alexia Putellas pulled one back. The action did not stop in the second period but Lyon, 12 months after Barcelona replaced them as champions, is on top again.
The huge Barcelona travelling support in an attendance of over 30,000 was stunned at its own end six minutes in when Amandine Henry curled in a superb effort from distance. Barcelona responded swiftly and Christiane Endler was called into action by Jenni Hermoso, who was then denied by a great saving tackle from Selma Bacha.
Bacha was overlapping on the right and she made the second goal as she swung in a cross met by a perfect header from Ada Hegerberg, already a hat-trick scorer in the 2019 final defeat of Barcelona.
Amazingly, it was three later in the half, Catarina Macario forcing the ball in after a defensive mix-up. Hegerberg was then denied by Sandra Panos, but there was hope for Barcelona before the break when Alexia Putellas turned in Caroline Graham Hansen’s cross, the captain’s competition-leading 11th goal of the season.
Endler was relieved not long prior to the hour mark when Patri Guijarro tried a lob from the halfway line with the Lyon keeper out of her goal, only for the ball to drop onto the crossbar. Barcelona sent on Asisat Oshoala, who headed fractionally wide, and fellow substitute Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic also volleyed just past the post. But in a finish as breathless as the start in a sweltering Turin, with Hegerberg hitting the post, Lyon held on and the celebrations began. (ANI)