Soccer-Barcelona finally break Lyon hex as they battle to Women's Champions League win

Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez said it was one of the best days of his life after his side finally secured a victory over Olympique Lyonnais in a Champions League final after two previous defeats to the French club.

Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez said it was one of the best days of his life after his side finally secured a victory over Olympique Lyonnais in a Champions League final after two previous defeats to the French club. Saturday's 2-0 win owed as much to their courage as it did to their quality on the ball and it was all the sweeter after their previous disappointments against Lyon.

On the two previous occasions they met in the final, Lyon squeezed the life out of the Spaniards, denying them space to play their passing football and muscling them off the ball, but on Saturday Barca stood firm to claim the crown. "It was an incredible game, I am really happy, one of the best days of my life for sure," Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez, who was taking charge of his final game for the club before taking over NWSL side Washington Spirit, told broadcaster DAZN.

"We did an amazing job with the ball, without the ball -- we suffered in the last minutes, but I'm very proud of all of them," he added. As her team mates celebrated with the trophy, substitute Ona Batlle sang along as "We Are The Champions" boomed out of the stadium PA, smiling broadly and seemingly oblivious to the gaping wound in her cheek.

Batlle was caught in the face by an opponent's stud late on and returned to the fray after a brief break for treatment with a huge white plaster on her face to stem the bleeding as her team defended for their lives in the closing minutes. The foundations for Saturday's famous triumph were laid in their two previous defeats to Lyon in 2019 and 2022, as well as in last year's final, when they showed enormous character to come back from two goals down to beat VfL Wolfsburg 3-2.

This year's competition saw some superb performances from smaller clubs such as Norway's SK Brann and BK Hacken of Sweden, but in the end it was the two giants that went toe to toe once again. Yet this time, Barca had the answer to Lyon's tactical and physical power. A goal from Aitana Bonmati and a stoppage-time strike from Alexia Putellas secured a second win in a row for the Catalan club, and though they are still well short of Lyon's record five consecutive wins and eight overall, they have finally proved that they are more than a match for the French giants.

 

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