Women's Champions League: PSG takes control

Out by OL in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2016, beaten in the final in 2017, eliminated again in the semi-finals in 2020, the Parisians have finally overturned the table.

They were right, this Sunday, of their best rivals.

They have debunked the best women's football team of the past decade.

Paris quite simply came out, with the manner, and logically, the five-time European champion in title (Lyon even won 7 of the last 10 C1).

And, it is neither a heist, nor success, nor even an achievement obtained after having defended a lot. No, PSG just dominated the two matches of this quarter-final. Widely. Paris has completely stifled the Rhone ogre (2-1). Lyon, undoubtedly also physically diminished by the Covid-19 episode (the return match had been postponed after multiple cases with the Lyonnaises), was far, very far, from the steamroller of recent years.

“It is a great pride.

Qualification is deserved in view of the two matches, blows Olivier Echouafni, the coach of the Parisiennes since 2018. It is an achievement, but it is only a step.

“FC Barcelona stands in the semi-finals on the road to the teammates of Grace Geyoro, author of a magnificent goal this Sunday at Groupama Stadium.

"I would like to congratulate the players of PSG, the coach and his staff (...), underlines Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the president of PSG.

The first leg at the Parc des Princes had left a feeling of frustration among the players

.

They thus obtained this qualification thanks to their talent and their dedication.

"

"We continue to grow"

Obviously, this qualification will count. Because never, in recent years, had Paris been at this level. Also close to the OL juggernaut. And even in front? Echouafni does not boast. “We continue to grow. It is an additional step to be able to win in Lyon. After, say:

, not at all, he cuts when asked the question. The match was played on details. It will always be pretty close matches between the two teams. "

“PSG is growing, it is improving over the years. He deserved to win, ”recognizes the American international from OL, Catarina Macario, who arrived in the Rhône this winter. But be careful not to bury the Fenottes too quickly. “If you think this is a page that has been turned, no, retorts Jean-Luc Vasseur, the Lyonnais coach. We have 12 cases of Covid in the players, we lacked the preparation, the rhythm, the energy. We had too many handicaps today. “Groggy, dejected, the best team in Europe of the last decade intends to react. Very quickly.

Leader with one point ahead of OL in the league, Paris will return to Groupama Stadium at the end of May for a real final for the women's D1 title. The indefatigable Formiga, 43, and his partners, will try to snatch a trophy held for… 14 years by Olympique Lyonnais. "The objective of the championship will allow us to have revenge on the ground," Vasseur projects himself. “There will be a feeling of revenge, for sure. But on our side, we also gained even more confidence. On being able to win in Lyon and to score two more goals, ”adds Echouafni. In the minds, too, that has changed. PSG are now looking OL eye to eye.