Is Barcelona versus OL Lyonnes the UEFA Women’s Champions League’s greatest rivalry?
On Saturday night at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway, a new European club champion will assume the throne. Though referring to either OL Lyonnes or FC Barcelona as new is a disservice to both teams. The French side are storied titans of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, having claimed the title eight times.
In their first meeting, OL Lyonnes lifted the continental trophy with a decisive win over Barcelona in 2019, in the Catalan team’s Champions League final debut. Clearly, the heartbreaking whiff of European glory was all Barcelona needed as motivation; seven years on, including this year, they have reached six Champions League finals, winning three of them. OL Lyonnes and Barcelona have met three times in European finals.
The French team won their second meeting in 2022 before Barcelona got the better of them two years later in what is currently their most recent victorious campaign. At the time, Barcelona were coached by Jonatan Giráldez, who is now the manager of OL Lyonnes. This weekend is an opportunity for Barcelona to even out the series and tighten their grip as a generational dynasty, or for OL Lyonnes, who’ve not lifted a Champions League trophy in four years, to reassert themselves as European legends.
There is plenty at stake on both sides, including the possible (for some) and inevitable (for others) departures of star players whose names have been synonymous with European glory. Alexia Putellas has won more trophies for Barcelona than any other player in club history, male or female, and her contract expires this summer. There is a high likelihood that Putellas, a generational icon and Barcelona’s queen , will leave the club for the first time in her career.
Putellas’ future is less concrete than that of U. S. women’s national team midfielder Lindsey Heaps, who signed with National Women’s Soccer League expansion side Denver Summit on Jan.
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