OL Lyonnes booked another Women’s Champions League semi-final meeting with Arsenal after the French giants fought back with a convincing second-leg victory to eliminate Wolfsburg, winning 4-1 on aggregate after extra time.
The result ensured a repeat of last season’s semi-final meeting, which the English side won 5-3 on aggregate. The French league leaders can go into this year’s rematch full of confidence after producing a formidable display to eventually beat Wolfsburg 4-0 on the night, but the tie was locked level at 1-1 on aggregate for a lengthy period.
With Wolfsburg holding a slender, 1-0 first-leg lead, Lily Yohannes’ early deflected strike on Thursday drew OL Lyonnes level and, despite mounting attack after attack, forcing 19 corners and looking far stronger than their German opponents, they were made to wait until the 102nd minute to go ahead, through a scrappy goal from the substitute Melchie Dumornay after a scramble at a corner.
Any lingering tension eased when Damaris Egurrola’s header and Tabitha Chawinga’s late finish ensured that the margin of victory more accurately reflected the control of the game from the hosts, who are the record eight-time European champions but have not lifted the trophy since 2022.
Barcelona hit Real Madrid for six
Earlier on Thursday, a sold-out Camp Nou was treated to a memorable performance from Barcelona as they hit six past their humiliated rivals Real Madrid and reached the semi-finals.
The runners-up last season, Barcelona were already 6-2 up from the first leg after a ruthless victory in the Spanish capital and they coasted through to the last four in style on Thursday with an emphatic 12-2 aggregate victory, setting up a semi-final showdown with the Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich. The German side eliminated Manchester United on Wednesday.
The Catalan outfit, who have reached five European finals in a row, winning three, are in ominously strong form and, on this showing, they will take some beating this term. They are seeking to go one better after the disappointment of losing last year’s final to Arsenal in Lisbon.
In front of a crowd of 60,067, which was a capacity attendance while the Camp Nou undergoes renovations, Barcelona turned on the style straight from the start. Alexia Putellas’s strike on a rebound, Caroline Graham Hansen’s header, Irene Paredes’s header from a corner and Ewa Pajor’s close-range finish gave the hosts a 4-0 half-time lead. The classy Putellas, marking her 500th appearance for the club, was thriving.
Graham Hansen then skilfully dinked a shot into the far corner, on the turn, to add another goal after the break, before Esmee Brugts finished off a sublime team move to make it 6-0 on the night and complete Madrid’s embarrassment. They are 13 points behind Barça at the top of the Spanish top-flight league table but this aggregate defeat underlined how far behind their rivals they really are.
The first legs of the semi-finals will be played between 24 and 26 April, before the second legs a week later between 1 and 3 May. Barcelona and OL Lyonnes will have home advantage in the second legs, having been seeded for the knockout draw after finishing at the top two sides in the league phase. The final is in Oslo on 23 May
