Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)

Lyon won their eighth Women’s Champions League Final in Turin defeating Barcelona 3-1 in front of a crowd of over 32,000.

If Barcelona’s women’s team had performed like their fans in the stands they would have won the European Cup final 5-0. But football does not work like that. On a hot evening in Turin, Barcelona started the game like the heat had gone to their heads.

After only five minutes, Amandine Henry hit a long range shot from 30 yards that flew into the top corner of the Barcelona net. It was a stunning strike for Henry who had only just returned to the team after being out for 20 months with a bad injury.

The early goal seemed to hit the Barcelona players hard. They could not get into any rhythm at all and gave the ball away too much in the midfield.

After 22 minutes Lyon doubled their lead when a ball came in from the left wing for Ada Hegerberg to produce a diving header from six yards out at the far post.

The crowd could not believe it and things were going to get worse for the Barcelona fans that far outnumbered the Lyon fans in the stadium.

Just ten minutes later Henry became the provider for the third goal for Lyon that was a defensive mess from start to finish for Barcelona. The Norwegian striker set up Catarine Macorio from close range to make it 3-0 to Lyon and Barcelona looked like a team that were going to implode.

Barcelona 2021 Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas pulled one back just before half time with a side foot volley to give them hope in the second half.

Barca came out and threw the kitchen sink at Lyon at the start of the second half. There was even an effort from just past the halfway line from Patricia Guijarro that had the Lyon keeper beaten but it hit the crossbar and came out. If that had of gone in, the roof would have come off the famous Juve stadium in Turin.

But Lyon showed why they are the most decorated women’s team at the European elite level in the game. They are the Queens of the dark arts of football. They tried to put Barcelona out of their stride, wasting time and slowing the game down whenever they could. In the end they hung on to win an eighth European title, breaking Barcelona hearts on the pitch and those of over 30,000 Barcelona fans in the stands.

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West Ham United will be gearing up for one of the biggest nights in the club’s history when they clash with Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final at The London Stadium tonight.

David Moyes’s men came from behind to triumph over Sevilla in extra time to reach the last eight, winning 2-1 on aggregate, while Lyon eliminated Porto by the same scoreline.

The Hammers, who will be appearing in just their fifth ever European competition quarter-final, rose to 6th in the Premier League table on Sunday, reviving their Champions League hopes with a 2-1 victory over Everton.

Lyon underwhelmingly sit 9th in Ligue 1, with the Europa League appearing to be their best chance of returning to European competition next season.

They will head into the tie off the back of a win themselves though, prevailing 3-2 winners over Angers on Sunday, despite being pegged back twice.

Manager Peter Bosz will have reason for optimism, with Lyon unbeaten in six games against English sides, which included most recently knocking out Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League back in the 2019-20 campaign.

Karl Toko-Ekambi will look to be the man to keep the record in tact, with the Cameroonian international aiming to add to the six goals and two assists he’s already provided in the competition. However, he faces a battle against time to be fit for tomorrow, having missed their victory over Angers with illness.

Meanwhile, David Moyes will be looking for Jarrod Bowen to continue from where he left off on Sunday, with the winger scoring on his return against the Toffees, taking his tally to 13 goals and 11 assists in all competitions this season.

West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini will miss the first leg with suspension after picking up his third booking of the tournament against Sevilla.

Full back Ben Johnson is a doubt with a hamstring problem which ruled him out of the Everton game, so Vladimir Coufal is expected to rival Ryan Fredericks for a starting spot.

Alphonse Areola is expected to start over Lukasz Fabianski in goal, with the Frenchman having started in their last seven Europa League games.

For Lyon, with Toko-Ekambi a doubt, Brazilian midfielder Tete will be pushing for a start, after netting the winning goal for his team in Sunday’s win over The Black and Whites.

Lenny Pintor, Rayan Cherki and Sinaly Diomande all remain long-term absentees.

Maxence Caquret is also set to miss out with a knee problem, so Thiago Mendes and Tanguy Ndombele are expected to partner each other in midfield.

Predicted Lineups:

West Ham: (4-2-3-1) Areola; Fredericks, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio

Lyon: (4-2-3-1) Lopes; Gusto, Boateng, Lukeba, Emerson; Mendes, Ndombele; Faivre, Paqueta, Aouar; Dembele

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After a thrilling final 15 minutes in PSG’s win over St. Etienne, the title race in Ligue 1 gets even closer as three points separate the top four teams.

Five goals were scored at the death in Paris with Mauro Icardi’s 94th-minute winner grabbing the three points for PSG. Although the Parisians are still favourites to win the league with five games to go, they face tough competition from their three opponents.

Lille

Lille currently sit at the top of the table on 70 points and one point ahead of PSG. Unlike their rivals, the leaders have been great defensively compared to going forward. Their centre-back partnership has been one of the most surprising successes of Europe this season as 37-year-old Jose Fonte partners promising talent Sven Botman, who is 21-years-old.

Along with goalkeeper Mike Maignan, Fonte and Botman have helped Lille 18 clean sheets this season and only conceded 20 goals, which is fewer than any other team in the league.

Lille also have the best away record in the league and three of their final five are away from home, including a huge game at Lyon this weekend. The club has not won the Ligue 1 title since the 2010/11 season when they were captained by Rudi Garcia, who currently manages Lyon.

PSG

We all know the quality PSG possesses. Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, and Julian Draxler, to just name some of the attackers. They have won the last three Ligue 1 titles and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping to win his first league title.

PSG are also the top-scoring team in the competition with 74 goals and Mbappe is currently the leading scorer with 23 goals. Captain Marquinhos has also helped reinforce the defence as he has improved his game over the last 12 months.

Although PSG does not face any of their direct league rivals in their remaining fixtures, they are still participating in both the Coupe de France and the Champions League. This could lead to Pochettino prioritising games rather than focusing solely on the league.

Monaco

Monaco’s 2021 has helped secure their place in the title race as they have only lost one game this year and went on a seven-game winning streak in January. The side has been led by the attacking contributions of Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland who both have 22 direct goals or assists in the league this season.

Young defender Benoit Badiashile has made headlines this season as the 20-year-old surpassed 50 appearances for Monaco this year and received interest from teams such as Manchester United.

Monaco are currently two points off Lille and have not won the league since their famous 2016/17 season with a team that featured the likes of Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, and Fabinho.

Lyon

Last season’s Champions League semi-finalists are currently fourth in Ligue 1, three points off the top. Lyon arguably have the hardest run-in as they face Lille and Monaco in back-to-back games, which could seal their fate for the season.

Memphis Depay has brilliantly led the side and has also contributed with 18 goals and nine assists. His brace against Nantes in their most recent game was vital as they won consecutive league games for the first time since February.

Lyon are still in the Coupe de France, where they face Monaco in the quarter-finals. They have not won the cup since 2012 and the league since 2008 when they won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles from 2002-2008.

The twist

Although all four of these clubs have a great chance of winning the league title, the team that finishes fourth faces a bigger loss than the other three, apart from the most obvious reason of finishing the lowest.

In Ligue 1, only the top three clubs qualify for the Champions League and the team in fourth goes into the Europa League. This gives an added incentive for the clubs to go hard in the last five games as they have not secured qualification for the Champions League.

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Their opponents Lyon who had put in an exceptional display against Manchester City in the quarter-final, had the best chances of the first 15 minutes, with their through balls causing problems for Bayern’s defence. Firstly Maxence Caqueret found Memphis Depay, who went one-on-one with Manuel Neuer, he got past Germany’s No.1, but somehow put his shot wide. Then it was Karl Toko Ekambi’s turn to be on the end of Lyon’s dangerous direct balls, but he too couldn’t put his chance away, his shot hit the post.

They were chances that Lyon would go on to rue, just moments after the Ekambi chance Bayern went infront. Serge Gnabry picked up the ball from the wing, drove inside to the edge of the penalty area and rifled his shot into the top corner of the net.

Bayern doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute. Ivan Perisic’s low driven cross was met by Robert Lewandowski, however, the striker (who has sensational this season) was unable to make the right contact with the ball. The attempt was kept out Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes, but it went into the path of Gnabry, who put it in to the empty net.

Lewandowski should have made it three just eight minutes before the break, but he was unable to get a touch on Gnabry’s cross. There were questions whether the Polish striker was onside, but had it gone – and been allowed – there would have been no way back for Lyon.

Rudi Garcia’s men did still have some hope, but they wasted their huge chance to get back into the game. Houssem Aouar squared it to Ekambi who was left unmarked, and clean through on goal. But an excellent save by Neuer kept him out and kept the score at 2-0.

With the Bavarians looking to kill the game Hansi Dieter-Flick brought on Phillipe Coutinho. He made an great run to get on the end of a well weighted cross by Perisic, he brought the ball down with an excellent touch and slotted it into the net. However, video replays showed by Leon Goretzka had got a touch on Perisic’s whipped ball, which put the Brazillian in an offside position, meaning the goal was disallowed.

But with three minutes from time, Bayern won a free-kick after Thomas Müller was brought down by a Lyon defender. Perisic took it, and found Lewandowski, who towered over the head of Marcelo and cushioned his header past Lopes. It was his 55th goal of an sensational season, and it was one of the most important goals so far, it booked the Bundesliga sides’ place in Sunday’s final.

Bayern will face Paris St. Germain in the Champions League final, who defeated fellow German side, RB Leipzig 3-0 on Tuesday night.

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Ferland Mendy

Credit: Daily Mail

The French full-back has had a rapid rise in his career so far which has seen him sign for the Los Blancos but where did it all stem from for Mendy.

He started his career at AC Le Havre in the summer of 2015 after getting his professional contract advancing from their B team. In his first campaign he would make 11 appearances assisting on one occasion.

His breakthrough campaign was the next season in which Mendy would be a regular feature in the Ligue 2 side featuring 38 times scoring two goals and assisting five times.

In the summer of 2017, Olympique Lyon signed the full-back for £4 million. 35 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 club saw Mendy assist four times that season.

For the first time in his career he made over 40 appearances making 44 in the 2018-19 season scoring three times and assisting three times.

Real Madrid would sign the left-back in July 2019 for £43 million and has found to make 22 appearances assisting twice.

He’s made four appearances for the French national team with his debut coming in November 2018 in a 1-0 win against Uruguay.

Just the one trophy for Mendy in his career which was the Spanish Supercup this season.

Kamil Grosicki

Credit: Hull City

The Polish wide midfielder turns 32 today and has had a good career for the last 15 years that he has played but where did it all start from for Grosicki.

The winger started his career for him hometown club Pogon Szczecin where he would sign his professional contract in July 2006 where he would make 21 appearances, score two goals and provide four assists.

He would move to Legia Warszawa the following summer for £200,000. 12 appearances for the club from the capital and he would be loaned out to Sion in February until September.

He would make 11 appearances for the Swiss team as he returned back to Poland and went out on loan again to Jagiellonia Bialystok in January 2009 as he didn’t get much game time at Legia.

In his short loan spell spent in Bialystok, he made 13 appearances scoring four goals and assisting four times as the Polish club made the move permanent that summer.

In the next one and a half year, he would make 56 appearances scoring 11 goals and assisting 17 goals in the process as Turkish side Sivasspor signed the Pole in January 2011 for under £1 million.

He spent around two and a half years in Turkey as he managed to appear over 100 times for the Super Lig club scoring 16 goals and assisting 26 times.

Moving to his time in France now and he moved to Stade Rennais from Turkey. Four years in France have served Grosicki well as he managed to play in Ligue 1 and be a key figure for the club. 92 appearances for the Ligue 1 club with 15 goals and 13 assists saw him move to England.

On January transfer deadline day of the 2016-17 season Hull City fighting to stay up snapped up the winger from Rennes. They did not stay up but, Grosicki played some great football for Hull. 126 games for Hull City bagging 26 goals and grabbing 27 assists saw the Pole snapped up by a promotion fighting Championship club.

West Brom were the one who signed Grosicki in January 2020 as he has managed seven appearances and one assist for the club so far.

Internationally, he has made 73 appearances for the Polish national team scoring 13 goals for the national team after making his debut in 2008.

He’s a two time Polish Cup winner and one time Polish Supercup winner with those being his only trophies in his career.

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Marco Reus

Credit: Goal.com

The German forward turns 31 today and despite injuries plaguing his career he has become a Dortmund legend.

Reus would join Dortmund’s youth academy in 1995 and would make it up to the Dortmund’s U17’s but decided to move to Rot Weiss Ahlen in January 2015.

As the German made his way through the ranks at Ahlen he made the first team in 2008 and signed his professional contract for the club that summer.

He would appear 28 times that season for the club who were then in 2. Bundesliga and scored four goals and assisted three times in all competitions.

Borussia Monchengladbach bought Reus for £450,000 in the summer of 2009. His first full season in the Bundesliga saw him feature in 35 games in all competitions scoring eight goals and assisting four times.

The next season saw him feature 37 times in all competitions as he enjoyed a good campaign for Gladbach. He scored 12 goals and assisted 10 times in that season.

The 11/12 season saw him feature the same amount of times as the previous season and was his best season in a Gladbach shirt as he scored 21 goals and assist 14 goals.

In the summer of 2012, Reus got his dream move back to Dortmund for £12 million. His first season would be a very good one scoring 19 goals and getting 16 assists in 49 appearances.

44 appearances came in the 13/14 season as he went onto score 23 goals and assist 23 times in a very impressive campaign but, injury worries would hit Reus in the seasons to come.

The 14/15 season saw Reus appear in under 30 first team games for the first time since his Ahlen days. He still managed to score 11 goals and grab six assists.

He would return back to match fitness for the 15/16 season firing on all cylinders. Managed 43 appearances for Dortmund in all competitions that season as he finished the campaign on 23 goals and eight assists.

Injury worries would hamper his 16/17 and 17/18 campaigns only managing 39 appearances in the two seasons combined.

The 18/19 season saw Reus return to match fitness and feature in 36 games for the Yellow and Blacks scoring 21 goals and grabbing 13 assists.

Currently this season has been a mixed bag for Reus as he has been injured for some of the season but, has still managed to feature in 26 games for Dortmund which he scored 12 goals and got seven assists.

He has made 44 international caps for the German national team scoring on 13 ocassions. He was participated in Euro 2012 and the 2018 World Cup for Germany.

He’s won four team trophies with Borussia Dortmund winning the German Supercup three times and the German Cup once. He’s also won a few individual honours winning German Footballer of the Year on two occasions and Player of the Year once for Monchengladbach and twice for Dortmund.

Joachim Andersen

Credit: Goal.com

The defender turns 24 today and has been tipped as a quality defender for the future but, how did it all start for Andersen.

The Dane would move from youth team to youth team finally settling in the Netherlands with FC Twente where he would break into the first team in the summer of 2014 at the age of 18.

He would feature eight times for the Dutch club that season scoring one goal in his game time that he got for the first team.

The next season he would gain even more experience and minutes as he played 18 games that campaign and the season after that he would feature 24 times scoring twice and assisting once.

In the summer of 2017, Sampdoria came in for the Danish defender and signed him from Twente for £1.35 million. He would only feature eight times for the first team in that season.

He became a regular for the Italian club the following season making 34 appearances and showing that he was a vital part of Sampdoria’s defence.

In July 2019, Olympique Lyon signed the Dane from the Italian club for over £20 million and he’s had a good first season in France. He played 30 times for Lyon before coronavirus put the end to the Ligue 1 season.

He made his international debut for the Danish senior team in October 2019 and he will make more appearances for the national team for sure as he looks like a solid defender.

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Alexandre Lacazette

Credit: Goal.com

The Frenchman turns 29 today and he’s had a fantastic career so far but where did it all start for Lacazette.

Olympique Lyon was the club that saw Lacazette rise through the ranks and in one year from 2008 to 2009 he would make it from the U19’s all the way to the senior team and earn his professional contract.

His first season would only see him appear once for Lyon contributing to no goals but, with more experience he would get greater game time.

In the 10/11 season he featured 11 times scoring two goals and assisting twice. The next season the striker was a regular starter for the French team. 43 appearances in one season scoring ten goals for the first time and also providing six assists.

37 appearances in all competitions followed with ten assists and four goals in that campaign.

The next two years would see the Frenchman’s name on the target list of the top clubs in Europe. The 13/14 saw the forward score 22 goals in 54 appearances, followed by 31 goals in 40 games the following season.

23 goals arrived in the 15/16 campaign but, nothing tops off his 16/17 campaign for Lyon. 45 appearances in all competitions scoring 37 goals came for Lacazette, being crowned top scorer in Ligue 1 that season with 28 goals.

In July 2017, Arsenal would purchase the highly rated Frenchman for £48 million and he looked like a solid buy for the Gunners.

His first season at Arsenal wasn’t the same as Lyon but, he still made good progress scoring goals. 39 appearances for the Gunners and scoring 17 goals in all competitions.

49 appearances in the 18/19 season saw the striker score 19 goals and assist 13 goals. This season saw the Frenchman play 26 games so far scoring nine goals and providing three assists.

Intenationally, he has had a lot of competition in his position for the French national team but, has made 16 appearances scoring three goals.

He’s won a couple of trophies in his career so far. For Lyon he won the French Supercup twice and the French Cup once. With Arsenal he missed out on the Europa League last season but, has won the Community Shield with the London club.

Kyle Walker

Credit: Sky Sports

Kyle Walker turns 30 today and has been one of the most reliable defenders in the Premier League over the last decade.

The full-back started his career at Sheffield United when given his professional contract in July 2008. A couple of months later the defender would move on loan to Northampton Town on loan till the end of the season. He would make nine appearances for Northampton in League One that season.

He would return back to Sheffield United in January 2009 to make seven appearances assisting on two ocassions.

In July 2009, the right-back was bought by Spurs for £5 million but, was loaned back to Sheffield United in the next month.

28 appearances for Sheffield United that season saw the right-back have a decent campaign in the Championship and he returned back to Spurs in February 2010 where he would make two appearances for the London side.

The 10/11 season would see Walker loaned out yet again this time to QPR, making 20 appearances for the West London side.

For the second half of the 10/11 season he went out on loan to Aston Villa. He featured 18 times for Villa scoring twice and assisting three times.

Upon his return from his loan spells, he would be a regular feature in the Spurs team. In the next three seasons, he would feature 124 times.

An injury in the 14/15 would see him feature 21 times that season and play U21 football as he looked to return back to fitness.

74 appearances on his two years after his return from injury saw the likes of Manchester City want to sign the full-back.

After a battle to keep Walker, Spurs decided to offload the right-back to Manchester City for £48 million in the summer of 2017.

130 appearances for the Citizens in his last three seasons has shown that he has been a great right-back and emergency centre-back for his country.

For England, he has made 48 appearances and has featured in Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.

His career so far has seen him grab a decent amount of trophies all with Manchester City. Two Premier League titles, one FA Cup triumph, two Community Shield wins and three League Cups secured by Manchester City and Walker.

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This game is likely to be a good game to watch. Lyon after the summer transfer window has lost players like Ferland Mendy, Tanguy Ndombele and Nabil Fekir but still look in fine form with in-form Memphis Depay and Moussa Dembele.

Zenit are second in the Russian Super League and will try to gain any valuable points against Lyon in a bid to go to through to the round of 16.

Team news

Lyon are likely to be feature midfield maestro Houssem Aouar again after he returned from a groin injury and played against Amiens.

Zenit, meanwhile, will be without former Barcelona winger Malcom, who was an unused sub in both legs against Lyon in the round-of-16 last term and is now sidelined with a hip injury until early October.

Lyon manager Sylvinho spoke about his team being eager to attack this competition and try to have a decent run in this competition.

“We are eager to attack this competition. It’s an extraordinary one. We can’t wait for the game to start. Everyone can qualify from this group so it’s a very important match for us.

“We need to play a good game. We want to do something tomorrow with the help of our fans.

“We’re all focused on Zenit and then we will turn our attention to PSG afterwards. It’s a difficult group because the teams are relatively similar.”

Zenit manager Sergei Semak spoke about Lyon having a well-balanced team that have great potential and are a good side.

“I’m always glad to return to France. As for Lyon, they’ve only played a few matches so far so its too early to talk about this. I think, Lyon will only go up the French table.

“They are a very young team and since last season they have brought in several players, someone for lots of money. There are some experienced players who have done well in recent years. They are a well-balanced team with great potential.”

Head-to-head

The two clubs have faced each other twice in the UEFA Champions League and once in a club friendly. Zenit won both Champions League games and Lyon won the club friendly.

Expected line-ups

Olympique Lyon’s XI – Lopes; Tete, Denayer, Andersen, Dubois; Mendes, Tousart, Aouar; Traore, Dembele, Depay

Zenit’s XI – Lunev; Smolnikov, Ivanovic, Rakitskiy, Santos; Kuzyaev, Barrios, Ozdoev, Zhirkov; Azmoun, Dzyuba

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A second-half double by Moussa Dembele gave Lyon victory at the Emirates after Arsenal were made to regret missed chances.
Arsenal had taken the lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after a barrage of chances in the first 45 minutes but the French side rallied after half-time to emerge victorious.

The home side had thought they had restored the lead at 1-1 only for the officials to deem new signing Gabriel Martinelli offside when poking home from close range.

Lyon’s changes worked as Houssem Aouar and Dembele were influential in flipping their fortunes, Frenchman Dembele showing excellent composure in finishing his two chances and displaying the attributes that have seen him linked with Manchester United in recent windows.

Arsenal will be bitterly disappointed to lose after such an encouraging performance for so long as they now look ahead to their last two pre-season fixtures against Angers and Barcelona before the Premier League season kicks off.

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After a £52 million move to Liverpool collapsed in the summer of last year, it seemed a matter of time before the French international moved on from the French club. With the player now joining Betis just a year on for less than half the price he was valued at just a year ago.

? OFFICIAL | #RealBetis sign Nabil Fekir ??

Welcome, @NabilFekir! ?‍?

https://t.co/ImcCvzYBJr pic.twitter.com/75YkDdgBjL

— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) July 22, 2019

The player has been lauded across Europe for his creative ability, solid technique and threatening presence when shooting. Betis, who finished in a Europa League place last season, were thrilled with the capture of the player. They stated on their website:

‘With the arrival of Fekir, Real Betis acquire creativity, great technique, shooting ability and attacking edge.’

Fekir, who contributed 21 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions last season, had seen questions surrounding the fitness of his knee as of late. The player has suffered some key injuries, including an ACL rupture in the 2015/16 season. The injury which saw him miss a total of 39 games was what many felt was the driving force for the collapse of his move last summer.

However, having played over 200 games for the French outfit, the player has scored 69 goals and created a further 46 through assists. During his best season for the club in 17/18, he scored 18 and assisted eight. As well as completing three dribbles per 90 and two key passes per 90. When fit, the Frenchman is a simply fantastic player who will certainly help push Betis to the upper echelons of La Liga.

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