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The VfL Wolfsburg footballers held out a bit of hope against Olympique Lyon, but somehow they still scored that goal that could lead them to extra time. And then it was Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir, of all people, who until recently was one of them who shattered this hope. In the 88th minute, Eugénie Le Sommer fired a corner at Wolfsburg’s goal, Gunnarsdóttir gave him the decisive direction. This decided the final of the Champions League on Sunday night in San Sebastián, Spain.
For the seventh time in total and for the fifth time in a row, Lyon led German national player Dzsenifer Marozsán to the top of European women’s football thanks to a 3-1 (2-0) victory. In the duel between the two double winners, Wolfsburg missed the triple for the second time since 2013 and failed for the third time in the fourth final against the French. “I am incredibly proud of my team. They came back very well after the 2-0 draw and played football with a lot of heart,” said coach Stephan Lerch. “But the disappointment is great. We had big plans.”
Lyon appeared present, offensive, dominant and focused from the start. The pressure on Wolfsburg was great. In the second minute, Olympique Lyon scored their first shot on goal by Japan’s Saki Kumagai, but it ended up in the arms of goalkeeper Friederike Abt. VfL tried to react with long passes to the front, but the effect wore off. In the 13th minute, the Wolfsburg team managed to get ahead of Lyon’s goal with good teamwork from Pernille Harder, Ewa Pajor and Fridolina Rolfö. Alexandra Popp could have used the final cross with her head, had it not been for goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi on the ball in front of her.
The Wolfsburg women plan was to stress their opponents, cause mistakes and thus gain advantages. Instead, it was they who were rushed by the way Lyons played. The change didn’t work, they made mistakes. “Play it easy!” Shouted central defender Lena Goessling at Anoeta Stadium. But the warning didn’t help. Over and over, Lyon approached the door. A pass from the almost unstoppable Delphine Cascarino landed at Le Sommer. Abbot was able to repel the first shot with his legs. He crashed into the penalty area. And then Sara Doorsoun and Goessling didn’t switch fast enough, Le Sommer was able to run to the ball, shoot again, and scored in the 25th minute to make it 1-0.
The French national team player was only replaced by Lyon coach Jean-Luc Vasseur at the forward. Norwegian top striker Ada Hegerberg, who has already scored nine Champions League goals in January and is the competition’s most successful scorer with 53 goals, missed the entire final phase of the tournament due to a torn cruciate ligament. Nikita Parris, her substitute, had to redeem herself in the semifinals and has now been suspended. Then Le Sommer could play. And she took her chance.
“We need an absolutely perfect day, an absolutely perfect game, to be able to defeat such an important team in the end.”
Neither Wolfsburg nor Lyon had an overwhelming dominance on the way to the final. VfL entered the tournament with an easy 9: 1 against Glasgow. In the semifinals, however, the Germans had a much more difficult time against FC Barcelona (1-0). After the long hiatus caused by the crown, Lyon could already see the lack of practice of the match at the start against FC Bayern. The Vasseur team acted with nervousness and insecurity at times in the 2-1 victory against Munich. In the semifinals, they could barely beat Paris Saint-Germain (1-0). The balance of power ranking was clear before the climax began: “We are clearly the challengers,” Lerch said. “We need an absolutely perfect day, an absolutely perfect game, to be able to defeat such an important team in the end.” Lyon answered the question of whether this Sunday would be one before the break.
Doorsoun had to be replaced after a duel with Cascarino. For them came Kathrin Hendrich (39th), who knew how to keep his fast offensive Asisat Oshoala at bay against FC Barcelona. But Lyon’s speedy offensive player, Cascarino, once again escaped Wolfsburg’s defense. Dominique Janssen and Svenja Huth couldn’t control it in the right corner. He crossed to the center. After a few stops, the ball landed on Kumagai. And like pulled from a rope, the Japanese shot with great force from 18 meters to the right to make it 2-0 to Abt (44th).
Lyon were able to maintain their dominance early in the second half. Cascarino turned around, Le Sommer tried his hand at deals, the structure of the game was successful. “Who are we waiting for? Push up,” Lerch yelled. Harder, who is actually always eye-catching and said to face a Chelsea move after the final, has been seen for a long time. But little by little Wolfsburg came back to play safer and Lyon also made mistakes. And then Harder was there at the right time. He passed Rolfö on the left side, whose shot Bouhaddi could not contain, Pajor hit the ball high into the middle. And there Popp arrived at the right time, with his specialty, which this time was right: header, goal. Just 1: 2 in the 57th minute. In fact, enough time. But that night was not enough.
