The Swiss Ana Maria Crnogorcevic missed her third Champions League title. The 133-time Swiss national player lost with FC Barcelona against record winners Lyon 1: 3.
Ada Hegerberg (front) celebrates the triumph in the Champions League with her teammates.
A historic season for women’s football ended on Saturday with a worthy Champions League final. The former series winner Olympique Lyon met the defending champion FC Barcelona, it was a duel between the old nobility and a fresh power that symbolizes the new popularity of this sport with attendance records of over 90,000 fans in the quarter- and semi-finals.
The Catalans also mingled with the 40,000 spectators in the stadium in Turin, compared to only around 2,000 for the French – and yet it was Lyon who secured their eighth European Cup triumph in a frenetic match with a 3-1 win.
Given the history as record holders and the French women’s budget that is roughly twice as high (€10 million versus €5 million), it’s hardly a surprise. Given the impressions of the season, yes. There was an air of unbeatability about Barça, while Lyon were slowly struggling to form. It took place parallel to the return of star player Ada Hegerberg after a long injury break. The Norwegian showed how much she was spurred on by the hype about Barça when she said: “There was women’s football before.”
Her team proved this with a clarified idea. Henry made it 1-0 after just six minutes with a dream shot. Hegerberg increased after a precise counterattack against an increasingly confused Barça defence, which almost put Macario’s 3-0 into the net itself.
World footballer Alexia Putellas was able to shorten the gap, in the second half Patri Guijarro hit the crossbar from the halfway line, and Ana Maria Crngorcevic came on shortly afterwards. But the Swiss missed the last chance for Barça in the 83rd minute, who, despite their brilliance, still found their champions.