The first French team to enter the fray during these quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League on Tuesday, Olympique Lyonnais offered themselves a narrow 2-1 victory against Benfica.
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A painful victory. Olympique Lyonnais were very scared at the Stade de la Luz against Benfica in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League, Tuesday March 19, but ultimately won 2-1, despite the Portuguese opening the score in the first period. A reactionary Rhone team, which was slow to conclude its domination.
Sonia Bompastor’s daughters had however been showered just before the break, following a disagreement between Vanessa Gilles and Griedge Mbock which benefited Andreia Faria in the depth (1-0, 43rd). The Lyonnaises ended up bouncing back from the locker room thanks to the very lively Delphine Cascarino (1-1, 63rd), before doubling the lead on a header from Sara Däbritz at the very end of the match (1-2, 79th).
A defense at bay, an uninspired attack
In an incandescent Luz stadium, Olympique Lyonnais took time to get into their match and almost conceded a goal on Lisbon’s first opportunity when Andrea Falcon pushed Christiane Endler to the feat on a cut ball in the first post (8th). A first opportunity symbolizing the defensive generosity of the Rhodaniennes, still deprived of their captain Wendie Renard, injured. After opening the scoring on a pass that was not sufficiently supported by Vanessa Gilles (43rd), the Benfica players could even have made the break several times if Chandra Davidson had made better choices in the last third of the field (45th and 51st) .
For OL too, everything is a question of choice. Despite clear domination and 20 shots attempted, Sonia Bompastor’s players often lacked sharpness or audacity once they arrived in the Lisbon area. And they all came up against Lena Pauels, Benfica goalkeeper who made 7 saves on her line. Another symbol here too, Lyon captain Eugénie Le Sommer, who celebrated her 400th match with OL this Tuesday, was quickly replaced during the game, after a ghostly 55 minutes. Lyon’s light will finally come from an incoming player, Melchie Dumornay, shifting with a backheel for the equalizer, before making the right counter-call and freeing up space for Däbritz for the 2-1. Olympique Lyonnais will meet in front of their home crowd on March 27, to show a better face during the quarter-final return.