UEFA Women’s Champions League holders Barcelona will take on record seven-time winners Lyon in the 2022 final at 19:00 CET on Saturday 21 May at Turin’s Juventus Stadium.
We introduce the contenders with Barcelona keen to show how far they’ve come since their painful 4-1 loss on their final debut to Lyon in Budapest three years ago while OL hope to reclaim the crowd they lost after five seasons when the Blaugrana succeeded them in 2021.
Barcelona vs Lyon: previous meetings
2018/19 final: Lyon 4-1 Barcelona (Budapest)
2017/18 quarter-finals: Barcelona 1-3agg Lyon (fiirst leg 0-1, second leg 1-2)
First named team at home in opening game of two-legged ties
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2020/21): 2
How they qualified: Holders, Spanish champions
Group stage: Group C winners (W6 D0 L0 F24 A1)
Quarter-finals: W8-3agg vs Real Madrid (W3-1a, W5-2h)
Semi-finals: W5-3agg vs Wolfsburg (W5-1h, 0-2a)
Top scorer: Alexia Putellas 10
Last season: Winners
Domestic honours: 7 x league champions, 8 x cup winners
Previous European best: Winners (2020/21)
Previous finals
2021: W4-0 vs Chelsea (Gothenburg)
2019: L1-4 vs Lyon (Budapest)
Campaign a nutshell
Their group progress was never in doubt after the opening 4-1 defeat of Arsenal and their performances throughout matched the domination they showed in beating Chelsea 4-0 in last season’s final. That continued against Madrid as they had to come from behind in both legs, doing so in style and thrilling the record 91,553 crowd at Camp Nou. That was improved when 91,648 was there as they beat Wolfsburg 5-1, though a 2-0 second-leg loss ended a 45-game competitive winning streak.
Coach: Jonatan Giráldez
The former assistant to Lluís Cortés replaced the UEFA Women’s Champions League-winning coach in the summer and has kept Barcelona’s stellar run going without missing a step.
Key player: Alexia Putellas
The UEFA Women’s Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or winner keeps hitting new heights, whether pushing from wide in midfield or racking up the goals in attack. Currently leading the Top Scorer race on ten goals but needs another assist to stay ahead of Wolfsburg’s Tabea Wassmuth assuming Alexia plays more than an hour in Turin.
Did you know?
Barcelona were the first Spanish finalists in 2019 and winners two years later.
Why they can win it
When they reached the 2019 final they were big outsiders against Lyon and four down by half-time, though Asisast Oshoala did get a late consolation. Two years later they held a four-goal advantage at the break against Chelsea, and didn’t even concede in the second half.
That pretty much confirmed Barcelona as the continent’s new dominant force and their, until the trip to Wolfsburg, flawless run has underlined that in a season where few other teams have got close to the long-recrowned Spanish champions. Sandra Paños is behind the tightest of defences and the midfield and attack is unstoppable, with Alexia, Aitana Bonmati, Caroline Graham Hansen and Jenni Hermoso, with Claudia Pina an emerging force meaning they could even afford the absences until recently of Lieke Martens and Oshoala.
DAZN/YouTube: watch the final and highlights of the season
UEFA coefficient ranking (end of 2020/21): 1
How they qualified: French league runners-up; W4-2agg vs Levante in Round 2
Group stage: Group D winners (W5 D0 L1 F19 A2)
Quarter-finals: W4-3agg vs Juventus (L1-2a, W3-1h)
Semi-finals: W5-3agg vs Paris Saint-Germain (W3-2h, W2-1a)
Top scorer (group stage onward): Catarina Macario 7
Last season: Quarter-finals
Domestic honours: 14 x league champions, 9 x cup winners
Previous European best: Winners (2010/11, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 – record)
Previous finals
2020: W3-1 vs Wolfsburg (San Sebastián)
2019: W4-1 vs Barcelona (Budapest)
2018: W4-1aet vs Wolfsburg (Kyiv)
2017: D0-0aet, W7-6pens vs Paris (Cardiff)
2016: D1-1aet, W4-3pens vs Wolfsburg (Reggio Emilia)
2013: L0-1 vs Wolfsburg (London)
2012: W2-0 vs Frankfurt (Munich)
2011: W2-0 vs Turbine Potsdam (London)
2010: D0-0aet, L6-7pens vs Turbine Potsdam (Getafe)
Campaign a nutshell
Came through a potentially tricky qualifying tie with Levante and, despite losing at Bayern, always looked on course for Group D top spot as they vied to bounce back from losing their champion status last season. Ada Hegerberg returned from long-term injury and was quickly back among the goals, including a vital strike to wipe out OL’s first-leg deficit in the return against Juventus, a reminder of the French club’s enduring strength. The topsy-turvey first leg against Paris ended 3-2, and Hegerberg and Wendie Renard struck to silence Parc des Princes.
Coach: Sonia Bompastor
A Lyon great as a player, she coached at the academy from 2013 until last April, when she took over the first team near the end of a rare trophyless season.
Key player: Ada Hegerberg
Out for more than 20 months, Hegerberg (who got a first-half hat-trick in the 2019 final against Barcelona) was eased back in following her October return but by December was back to her old prolific form, even breaking more records in this competition. The Lyon team evolved during her absence, but the striker’s presence now has them looking more like their old selves.
Did you know?
Lyon hold the competition records for title wins, final appearances, semi-final appearances (in fact, they have won their last nine), games played, goals scored and longest unbeaten run. This season, OL’s Melvine Malard also scored the historic first-ever group stage goal and in the semi-finals Wendie Renard became the only player ever to reach 100 games in this competition (OL themselves are the sole club to rack up a century).
Why they can win it
They start their tenth final as underdogs in a way they have not in the previous nine, but the dominant force of the 2010s are not ready to concede the 2020s to Barcelona or anyone else. Wendie Renard, and possibly Sarah Bouhaddi, are set to play a tenth final in their own right, with Eugénie Le Sommer also having been a part of all seven titles.
Renard herself has won 78 games in this competition; no club other than Lyon has registered 60 victories. And under Sonia Bompastor they have evolved, with Christiane Endler now first-choice goalkeeper, Ellie Carpenter at right-back, Damaris Egurrola and Catarina Macario in midfield and the fast-developing Melvine Malard up front among those providing a fresh look along with stalwarts like Renard, Griedge Mbock Bathy, Kadeisha Buchanan and Delphine Cascarino.
Cup winners refers only to main FA national cup in each country.
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