The 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final is now set: eight-time champions Lyon will face champions Barcelona, bidding for a second title in three years, at Bilbao's San Mamés stadium on the 25th. of May.
French giants Lyon edged out their Spanish rivals in the 2019 final and again in 2022. Between them, the pair will have won the last nine titles once the dust has settled on Saturday.
What awaits us this time? Here's a preview of the main women's club match in European football.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
What state is Lyon in heading into the match?
Lyon are in good form and in good spirits heading into the final, which will be their 11th appearance in the Women's Champions League final to date. Her last game was the Division 1 women's playoff final against Paris Saint-Germain, which they won relatively easily last weekend. In preparation for the last two games of the season, coach Sonia Bompastor rotated the team a lot to give her players some rest.
Everything seems to be going well for Lyon. They have added another league trophy to their record and are back where they belong, ready to fight for Europe's biggest prize. Although she is unlikely to start in Bilbao, the return of talismanic attacker Ada Hegerberg from injury will also give Les Fenottes an impulse.
Lyon will once again play a final in which they are underdogs, but will feel good about their chances of lifting the trophy for the ninth time. — Sofia Lawson
What state is Barcelona in facing the game?
Barcelona completed a domestic treble at the weekend, defeating Real Sociedad 8-0 in the Copa de la Reina final, having already won a fifth consecutive F League title and the Spanish Super Cup earlier this season. “Three down, one to go,” said forward Mariona Caldentey after the win The real. That's a good demonstration of where Barcelona's head is at right now: despite all the success they've tasted in recent years, they're still focused on two challenges they feel they have yet to meet. The first is winning a quadruple for the first time; the second is beating Lyon.
“[Winning the final against them] It would be the icing on the cake,” defender Marta Torrejón told ESPN before Saturday's game.
The atmosphere is positive and the team is in good shape. Alexia Putellas and Fridolina Rolfö have played a series of games in recent months after injury problems earlier this season, with centre-back María León the only major absence scheduled for this weekend.
However, there are some problems. The first is the psychological barrier of never having beaten the French champion. The second is the doubt raised during the semi-final victory against Chelsea. After losing the first leg (Barcelona's first defeat at home in five years) they changed things at Stamford Bridge, but it was not easy and they showed that they can be neutralized in attack. — Sam Marsden
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Are FC Barcelona and Lyon at a different level than the rest of Europe?
ESPN FC's Sophie Lawson looks at how FC Barcelona and Lyon reached the UWCL final.
Lyon leads Barça 7-2 on aggregate in their last two UWCL finals. Are they big favorites?
Incredibly, eight-time champions Lyon are no longer seen as favourites; Such is the respect that people have for Barcelona and their way of playing.
Lyon were the leaders in the 2019 final, having won the previous three Women's Champions League titles, and the match was over after half an hour, when an early goal from Dzsenifer Marozsán was followed by a stunning hat-trick from Hegerberg which put them up 4-0. . But in 2022, Barcelona were the reigning champions and Lyon's time was supposed to be over. However, three more goals in 33 minutes put an end to the situation and Lyon held on to win 3-1.
No team in the history of women's football has won the Champions League as well as Lyon. Understanding how to get through those finals is encoded in your DNA, so you really ought be favorites this time.
But no one can deny the irresistible way in which Barcelona plays. Regardless of the shared history of the two teams, Barcelona's style and the quality of players like Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí are what keep Barcelona as favorites. –SL
Was it inevitable that these two teams would reach the final?
With all due respect to the defeated semi-finalists, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, this meeting seemed extremely inevitable. The way both teams progressed through the group stage meant they couldn't meet until the semi-final and, once they were separated in the draw, meeting in a third final in six years was always on the cards.
Chelsea and PSG played their part in the semi-finals, showing that Barça and Lyon are not as far ahead as before, but the two top predators of European football proved too strong in the end.
It is the final that generates the most interest as well. Lyon seeks to complete a trilogy of victories over Barcelona on the biggest stage. Meanwhile, Barça could finally establish themselves as the best if they beat the team that has denied them glory in the past and secure two consecutive Champions Leagues. — YE
Still on the path back to his best following an ACL injury last May, Cascarino has shown flashes of his former self and is finding form at the right time for Lyon. Scoring for the first time in the league this season against PSG at the weekend, the 27-year-old striker looks fresh and could be the player to give Barcelona's defense all sorts of headaches.
As we saw the last time these two teams met in the final, preventing Barcelona from playing their way was vital for Lyon, so we're also likely to see their midfield working overtime to congest space and force turnovers. of ball. If that happens, a player like combative USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan could also shine. — SL
This is Lyon's problem; There are too many to highlight just one player. Ballon d'Or winner Bonmatí is the obvious candidate; Rolfö, scorer of last year's final victory, has returned from injury in good form; while Salma Paralluelo, 20 years old, is becoming one of the best forwards in football.
However, Barça's standout player this season has been the often overlooked Caroline Graham Hansen. The Norwegian winger rarely appears in individual awards, but it will be difficult to leave her out this year. She leads the F League in goals (19) and assists (18), adding five goals and five assists in the Champions League. In total, she has 57 goals in all competitions in just 37 games. — YE
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How will the imminent departures of Giráldez and Bopastor affect the UWCL finals?
ESPN FC's Emily Keogh believes that the outgoing coaches of FC Barcelona and Lyon could be additional motivation for both teams heading into the final.
Predictions
Lyon 2-1 Barcelona. On paper, Barcelona are the favorites, but they face a Lyon team they have never beaten in a Champions League final. Their two previous meetings in the final have helped Barcelona further develop the mentality they need to stay on top, and we saw it in action last season when they came from behind against Wolfsburg.
If Lyon can disrupt the blaugrana flow, as they did in Turin and as Chelsea did in the first leg of the semi-finals in Montjuïc, could expose a weakness. Maybe it's reckless, but I'm going to stay with Lyon. It won't be easy, but there is no better team to win Women's Champions League titles. — SL
Barcelona 2-1 Lyon (AET): Psychologically, the first 30 minutes are going to be very important for Barcelona after their previous problems against Lyon. Even Wolfsburg went into half-time with a 2-0 lead last year.
But this is a more mature Barça. They can use the experience of last year's comeback and semi-final victory over Chelsea to get over the line and send coach Jonatan Giraldez to his new job with the Washington Spirit at the top. If they can overcome that level first 30 minutes, or even within one goal of Lyon, they can win the game. Although it could take longer. — YE
