TURIN, Italy ( Associated Press) – Lyon earned a record eighth Women’s Champions League trophy after beating defending champions and favorites Barcelona 3-1 in the final on Saturday.
Lyon went 3-0 up after just 33 minutes and went home.
The French side have won eight of the last 12 editions of the Women’s Champions League. Captains Wendy Renard, Sarah Bohddie and Eugenie Le Sommer have all been part of those successes.
But Barcelona became the favorites in the final in Turin after a loss throughout the season.
Then Lyon was stunned by a header from Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg – the league’s all-time leading scorer – and a tap-in goal from Caterina Macario.
Barcelona captain and Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putelas pulled back once shortly before halftime, but they ended up repeating their 2019 loss to Lyon in the final.
A brilliant singles effort rolled Lyon into the sixth minute. Henry slammed into a tackle and picked up fast to collect the ball, cut inside, and swung a 30-yard shot to the top right corner.
Just when Barcelona looked in charge, Lyon scored again, when Selma Bacha worked his way to the left bank and crossed the unmarked Hegerberg for his 59th goal in 60 league matches.
It was a fitting way for Hagerberg to crown his comeback season. She returned in October after nearly two years of separation with injuries.
Lyon had a massive run against a flimsy Barcelona – who had won all their matches in the Spanish league – and extended their lead even further in 33rd.
Barcelona’s defense made a mistake in clearing the ball into its own box and Hegerberg swung it into Macario for the easiest of shots.
Just before halftime, Putelas brought Barcelona on board to generate some hope.
In the 58th, Patricia Guizarro almost scored a brilliant goal when she saw Lyon goalkeeper Christian Endler out of her line, but an audacious lob from inside the Lyon half came off the crossbar.
Hegerberg hit the post deep even in stoppage time.
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