The two favorite teams for the 2024 Women’s Champions League almost suffered the same fate at the end of the semi-finals first leg. But unlike FC Barcelona, ??beaten by Chelsea on Saturday April 20 (1-0), the Lyonnaises showed against PSG, a few hours later, that they want to remain the best team in Europe. Trailing by two goals on their lawn in Décines-Charpieu (Rhône) until the 80th minute, coach Sonia Bompastor’s players overturned everything to snatch victory at the end of a spectacular semi-final first leg (3-2 ). Eight-time winners of the competition – a European record – OL recalled that its DNA is continental.
“That’s not OL! We can’t do that,” captain Wendie Renard harangued after the meeting, at the heart of a circle formed by her partners, criticizing their long-amorphous game. But in six minutes, her teammates stunned Paris. And it was a former Parisian who sounded the revolt: Kadidiatou Diani first reduced the score, full of opportunism in the 80th minute of play. Then, carried by 38,466 spectators suddenly completely awake – a record at home for OL -, the Lyonnaises equalized four minutes later on a splendid shot from their Haitian midfielder, Melchie Dumornay. And two minutes later, the Lyon volcano roared and exulted after the victorious goal scored by Amel Majri, who had just entered the game.
Who would have imagined this completely crazy scenario until the 80th minute, when the Parisiennes seemed to have gained the upper hand over their French rivals? Untenable, like the Malawian striker, Tabitha Chawinga, and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Jocelyn Prêcheur’s players then led by two goals – a double from their French striker.
Parisiennes will regret their missed opportunities
“This reversal of the situation, after being down two zero, proves the mental and collective strength of our group,” noted Sonia Bompastor after the meeting, “proud” of her troops. An OL player for six years, the Lyon coach (since 2021) savored the exceptional nature of the moment. “These six minutes are perhaps the most intense and supportive I have experienced. It was necessary to score at least one goal to have the support of the public and turn the situation around. »
Well ahead of Division 1 with nine points ahead of the Parisiennes, the Fenottes had never lost this season, only eliminated in the Coupe de France by Fleury on penalties. In a continental competition in which the club has been its preserve since its first coronation in 2011, the Lyonnaises managed to extend their invincibility.
Although handicapped by numerous absentees – Ada Hegerberg, Eugénie Le Sommer, Sara Däbritz and Dzsenifer Marozsan – the best team in the history of women’s football managed to consolidate its status against rivals it knows by heart. And she generally masters it very well.
However, OL almost regretted the string of wasted opportunities in the first half. Dominant, before experiencing much more difficulty after the break – and before their saving awakening – the Lyonnaises initially cruelly lacked efficiency. Too soft or clumsy, the attempts of Delphine Cascarino (7th and 38th) or Lindsey Horan (9th and 29th) did not endanger the Parisian defense. And when the precision was there, Parisian goalkeeper Constance Picaud delivered a top performance.
Conversely, Paris Saint-Germain was sharp, converting one of its rare chances just before the break. And it only took four minutes for striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto to score her sixth and seventh goals of the season in the Champions League, straddling half-time (44th and 48th). The international tricolor did not go far from the hat-trick shortly after (70th), the Lyon goalkeeper, Christiane Endler, signing a classy save after a new number from the phenomenon Tabitha Chawinga.
“The high level is unforgiving.”
Katoto’s first goal came after Sandy Baltimore got rid of her French teammate Selma Bacha to cross hard in front of the Lyon goal. Opportunistic, the attacker opened the scoring. And barely out of the locker room, the Parisiennes accelerated, and believed they had made the difference. Bursting on a blocked shot from the untenable Chawinga, Marie-Antoinette Katoto reduced OL Park to silence. Stunned, Sonia Bompastor’s players almost collapsed in two minutes: but in quick succession, Sakina Karchaoui and Tabitha Chawinga lacked skill in favorable positions (50th and 51st). “The high level is unforgiving,” lamented Jocelyn Prêcheur, confessing “a lot of frustration” after the game. “When you have the opportunity to kill the match, you have to take it. »
Lively, intense and stunning, this twelfth meeting between the two French clubs – in seven confrontations – in the Champions League more than kept its promises. “These are great times to experience. This kind of show helps build loyalty among supporters,” praised Sonia Bompastor.
Far from admitting defeat, the Parisiennes will have to win at home on their return, Sunday April 28, to hope to eliminate their favorite bête noire and thus qualify for their third final after 2015 and 2017. “We are not far away. A goal behind is not impossible to overturn, analyzed the Parisian coach. We saw that we could put them in difficulty. » Crowned for the last time in 2022, Wendie Renard’s partners will only have to not lose at the Parc des Princes, to once again smell the scent of a European final. Stunning on Saturday, the Lyonnaises, who could count on the reinforcement of a few absentees, hope to play their eleventh European final in Bilbao (Spain) on May 25.
