From a zero point to a double? After the trauma of a year 2021 without any title, the players of Olympique Lyonnais have the opportunity to rectify the situation. In order not to return empty-handed for a second season in a row, the Fenottes will have to continue, with three games in the space of twelve days. In sight: achieve the eighth championship-Champions League double in their history. The rebirth operation begins on Saturday May 21 in Turin (Italy), with an enticing Champions League final between them and defending champion FC Barcelona.
For their 10th Champions League final, the queens of Europe – seven crowns on the clock – will face revengeful Barcelona, determined to avenge the insult of the European final of the 2019 edition. OL then outclassed Barça (4-1) to win the cup. Since then, well led by the 2021 Golden Ball, Alexia Putellas, the Spanish club has climbed the ladder: triple champion of Spain (2020, 2021, 2022), he won the Champions League in 2021.
Conversely, the Lyonnaises are advancing in a spirit of “reconquest”. The word comes back like a mantra in the mouths of the players and the staff. “We have the quality to go after this trophy”, assured defender Selma Bacha, after the semi-final return of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, on April 30. His team-mate Eugénie Le Sommer was full, questioned by The Team : “We are all focused on this objective. Barcelona are the defending champions, it’s a great final for women’s football, it’s up to us to be better than them on the pitch.”
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Last year, their early elimination from European competition – from the quarter-finals – by their Parisian rivals precipitated the ouster, at the end of April 2021, of their coach. Sacked five games from the end of his contract, Jean-Luc Vasseur gave way to Sonia Bompastor, director of the Lyon women’s training center.
The former OL captain couldn’t work a miracle at the end of last season (four wins, a draw against PSG), with Les Fenottes finishing second, one point behind PSG. On the other hand, it has undeniably printed a positive dynamic this year, with in particular a very attacking start to the season (4.5 goals on average per game). She is also nominated, alongside Fabrice Abriel (FC Fleury) and Sandrine Soubeyrand (Paris FC), for the 2022 trophy for the best coach of D1.
To put the Lyonnaises back in working order, Sonia Bompastor was able to count on the consistency of her captain Wendie Renard, who recently announced that she had signed her extension until 2026. Above all, she benefited from the returns, in the fall of 2021, of Griedge Mbock and Ada Hegerberg, both away from the lawns for more than a year due to injuries.
What moment. ❤️ https://t.co/2Tp5BzYbWR
— Ada S Hegerberg (@AdaStolsmo) November 15, 2021
With the Norwegian absent, OL had not only lost a brilliant goalscorer – the best in Champions League history, with 58 goals – but also a troop leader. At the end of the C1 semi-final second leg, Sonia Bompastor qualified the 2018 Ballon d’Or as “motor player” : “Ada is one of my mental leaders”.
After twenty months watching her teammates in the stands, Hegerberg hungry for titles. A rage visible in his joy after his crucial headed goal against PSG on April 30. “I want to help the team come back after last season, because it’s important to remain the best team in Europe, if not the world. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting back to my best. level, chaining matches and, of course, scoring goals again, breaking all records”, declared the 26-year-old striker to AFP shortly after her return.
If Sonia Bompastor dreamed of the treble (championship, Coupe de France, Champions League), she had to review her wish list after the dry elimination of her players in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France by PSG (0-3). After the European final in Turin, the Fenottes are expected at the Parc des Princes on May 29, for the penultimate day of the championship, a meeting which will look like a new final. With a five-point lead over their pursuers PSG, OL can settle for a simple draw to pocket a 15th national title. Another opportunity to show that last year was just an anomaly.