Barcelona retains Women’s Champions League title, completing historic quadruple
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Barcelona retained its Women’s Champions League title on Saturday, beating Lyon 2-0 in the final in Bilbao, Spain.
It was a cagey encounter, with clearcut chances few and far between as both teams’ defenses canceled out one another.
Aitana Bonmatí opened the scoring at the San Mamés Stadium, her left-footed strike midway through the second half deflecting into the Lyon goal.
And in the final few moments, Alèxia Putellas wrapped up a famous victory with her 190th goal for the club.
The victory, Barcelona’s third Women’s Champions League title, completes a historic quadruple this season for the Spanish giant – the Blaugrana has already won the Liga F, Copa de la Reina and Supercopa de España trophies.
It cements Barça’s status as the one of the best club teams in world soccer over the last few years.
“We knew we needed to be a club that made history,” Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze told broadcaster DAZN afterwards. “It’s not easy, it’s hard to win it once, but to do it back to back, Lyon showed how difficult it is.
“This team’s finally done that. I think we go down in history as one of the best teams in Europe.”
Tight margins
The final was a clash of Europe’s two titanic sides; Barcelona has soared to ascendancy over recent years while Lyon has dominated the competition since first winning it in 2011 – Saturday’s final was the club’s 11th Women’s Champions League final and its eight titles is double that of any other team.
With the game being played in Spain, the atmosphere inside the San Mamés felt like a home game for Barcelona with the stadium dominated by its famous red and blue colors.
And with such high stakes on the line, there was little to separate the two teams. Both sets of defenders reigned supreme, with chances at a premium.
After a cagey opening 45 minutes, Barcelona carved the best opportunity to break the deadlock on the stroke of halftime, with Caroline Graham Hansen’s tricky run bamboozling defenders but the Norwegian international could only drag her shot past the post.
Just minutes into the second half, Lyon could have taken a lead against the run of play but Wendie Renard was unable to keep her effort down.
With little two separate the two teams, it took a moment of magic to open the scoring.
Bonmatí, the 2023 Ballon d’Or Féminin winner, received a delicate pass from Mariona Caldentey before dancing into the Lyon box and firing a left-footed effort towards goal. Her attempt took a slight deflection off a despairing defender which lifted it into the roof of the net and sent the majority inside the San Mamés Stadium delirious.
That goal seemed to open up proceedings, with Lyon now needing a goal to claw its way back into the final.
Lyon piled the pressure on Barcelona but some heroic Blaugrana defense held strong, with only some last ditch interventions preventing the French side drawing level.
The addition of Lyon’s talismanic striker, Ada Hegerberg, offered a physical target for Lyon to play off but the Norwegian striker was forced to feed off scraps as Barcelona’s defenders fielded a barrage of crosses.
And with Lyon pressing, a storybook evening in Bilbao was capped off in fine fashion when Putellas – who has dealt with injuries over recent years but remains a legend at Barcelona – rifled the ball into the top of the net to seal the victory in stoppage time and get the party started.
In Bonmatí and Putellas, Barcelona has two Ballon d’Or Féminin winners and they both showed their match-winning capabilities to cap a magical season.
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