Did Christiane Endler herself think that her save against Marie-Antoinette Katoto in the 70th minute would be so decisive? Then trailing 0-2, the Lyonnaises were on the verge of a knockout. At the edge only. The Chilean's parade prevented PSG from killing the suspense and completely revived their teammates.
“Cristiane's save was the turning point of the match,” coach Sonia Bompastor easily acknowledged after the match. It keeps us in the match and certainly acts as a trigger that allows us to go for the first goal. »
Almost amorphous since the second Parisian goal, OL then suddenly raised their level of intensity. First by winning duels in midfield then by scoring goals like pearls, three between the 80th and 86th minutes.
“It’s the beauty of football,” said Lyon’s last scorer Amel Majri afterwards. Coming off the bench fifteen minutes from time, the left-hander displayed a big-night smile when commenting on this magical scenario: “We didn't give up, I'm proud because we showed OL a beautiful face. There was fatigue on both sides, we took advantage of it by being efficient. » His coach welcomed the decisive goal of this “child of the club”: “It shows that I have players concerned even when they do not start the matches. »
“We always believed in it”
For some observers, there was also something irrational about Lyon's comeback, compared on the OL
Play
set with the upsets so often achieved by Real Madrid in the Champions League: "There are things that don't cannot be explained from the outside.
However, from the inside, Sonia Bompastor saw nothing so illogical in the reversal of the situation achieved by her daughters: “The fact of having come back proves the mental and collective strength of this group. I am very proud of my players. At half-time, I had very positive words because we just lacked efficiency. We always believed in it. And at 0-2, I didn’t feel like the score reflected the game.”
Driven by 38,466 spectators, a new attendance record for OL women at home, Wendie Renard and her partners were also able to ride on this immense popular support. “I don't know if people realize it but, for the players and the staff, the support of 38,000 people allows us to sublimate ourselves and seek the resources deep within us,” explained the coach. In terms of emotions, it was a great moment for everyone. »
The most intense since his arrival on the OL bench four years ago? “Over such a short period of time, no doubt. » The American Lindsay Horan, with a smile on her face, was also still on cloud nine: “It was incredible, I hope now that all these people will all come back to the stadium”. Maybe not on Wednesday against Guingamp in Division 1 but we're happy to bet that they won't miss a beat of the semi-final return next Sunday at the Parc des Princes.