Sports Mole previews Saturday's Women's Champions League clash between Barcelona Women and Lyon Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Barcelona Women and Lyon Women will be gunning for Europe's top prize when they face off in Saturday's Women's Champions League final at San Mames.
The Catalan giants are hoping to claim the trophy for the third occasion, while the record-winners are looking to become nine-time winners of the competition.
Match preview
© Reuters
Barcelona have already clinched three trophies this season, winning the league title and the Spanish Super Cup before thrashing Real Sociedad 8-0 in last Sunday's Copa de la Reina final to add another piece of silverware to their bursting trophy cabinet.
They now have the chance to claim more silverware in Jonatan Giraldez's final game before he leaves his position as manager to take over the reins at National Women's Soccer League side Washington Spirit.
The reigning European champions are set to appear in a fourth consecutive Champions League final after ousting Brann in the quarter-final and overturning a first-leg deficit to claim a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Chelsea in the last four.
After winning the competition in 2020-21 and 2022-23, Barcelona are now hoping to become just the third team to win at least three Champions League trophies.
The Catalan club will travel to Bilbao with significant momentum after winning their last seven competitive matches by a combined 37-3 scoreline.
Despite boasting an array of world-class talent, Barcelona will be fully aware of the tough test that awaits them, having lost each of their previous five European meetings with Lyon.
© Reuters
Like their opponents, Lyon could also bid farewell to their manager on Saturday, with Sonia Bompastor widely expected to leave her post to replace Emma Hayes as Chelsea boss.
Before she focuses on her potential new role, Bompastor will be looking to guide Lyon to their third trophy of the season after winning the league last weekend to add to their success in the Trophee des Championnes.
Goals from Delphine Cascarino and Kadidiatou Diani proved enough to clinch a narrow 2-1 victory in the Division 1 Feminine playoff final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The result represented the third time Lyon had beaten their domestic rivals in the space of a month after they claimed victories in both legs of their Champions League last-four tie to progress to their 11th European final.
They may be able to take inspiration from their recent final appearance in 2021-22 when beat Barcelona 3-1 in Turin thanks to goals from Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg and Catarina Macario.
Lyon will be fully aware of Barcelona's attacking talent, but they have showcased their own firepower throughout the tournament, scoring 36 goals across their 10 European matches to outscore the Spanish club by two goals.
Barcelona Women Women's Champions League form:
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
Barcelona Women form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Lyon Women Women's Champions League form:
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
Lyon Women form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Barcelona are still unable to call upon the services of defender Mapi Leon, who has been out of action since undergoing knee surgery in December.
Giraldez could make a few changes to the side that began the Copa de la Reina final, with Cata Coll, Fridolina Rolfo and Keira Walsh all expected to come into the starting lineup.
Walsh is set to feature in the middle of the park alongside Patricia Guijarro and current Ballon d'Or holder Aitana Bonmati.
Norway international Caroline Graham Hansen will provide one of Barcelona's main attacking threats, having scored five goals and provided five assists in nine Champions League appearances this season.
Lyon have announced that Eugenie Le Sommer has extended her contract to June 2025, but they will have to cope without the injured forward for Saturday's final.
The French side are also unable to call upon midfielder Sara Dabritz, who has been forced to miss the last seven matches due to an ankle injury.
Bompastor is likely to select the same lineup that started the recent win over PSG in the D1 Feminine playoff final.
Diani will be crucial to Lyon's hopes of lifting the Champions League trophy after netting eight goals in 10 appearances to lead the scoring charts in this season's competition.
Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:
Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Engen, Rolfo; Bonmati, Walsh, Guijarro; Graham Hansen, Caldentey, Paralluelo
Lyon Women possible starting lineup:
Endler; Carpenter, Gilles, Renard, Bacha; Horan, Egurrola, Van de Donk; Diani, Cascarino, Dumornay
We say: Barcelona Women 1-2 Lyon Women
Barcelona will be favoured by many due to the fact that they have been crowned European champions in two of the last three seasons.
However, they have lost each of their five Champions League meetings with Lyon, and with the French side yet to lose in the current competition, we think that they will do enough to claim a narrow win in Saturday's final.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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