Will the girls of OL or Paris SG triumph in Spain where their glorious male counterparts have failed in Portugal? Wednesday evening (8 p.m., Canal + and beIN Sports), the Lyonnaises and Parisiennes will meet in Bilbao with the hope of winning a ticket for the final of the Champions League scheduled for next Sunday. A remake of the “classic” of the Women's Division 1 between two teams which now know each other inside out. “The confrontations against Paris have always been hotly contested in recent years. This will still be the case for this semi-final ”, confides in Figaro Eugénie Le Sommer, the Lyon striker.
“It will be another opposition, in another context. We weren't 100% yet and neither were they after several months of hiatus but it was excellent preparation ”
Eugenie Le SommerThe mastodons of French women's football rightly crossed swords last August 9 in the final of the Coupe de France. Lyon advantage with a new coronation snatched on penalties (0-0, 4 shots on goal to 3). “It will be another opposition, in another context. We weren't at 100% yet and neither were they after several months of hiatus, but it was excellent preparation ”, qualifies the international.
Winner of the last four editions out of his six continental coronations in total, the invincible Lyonnaises will therefore advance with the status of favorite. A label that the champions of France (14 titles) assume moreover without ambiguity. "In this Final 8, we know that we are the team to beat," agrees the Breton. But Eugenie le Sommer also remembers that Paris SG is the last club to have brought down the Rhone formation in the Champions League, at the stage of the round of 16, in 2015. Since then, the Gones have resumed their march forward by dismissing the Parisiennes in the semi-finals (2016) then in the final the following year in Cardiff, on penalties.
constellation of foreign stars
“The last meetings against Lyon were played on very small details. We believe in ourselves, ”analyzes the Parisian Signe Bruun, author of the victorious goal against Arsenal in the quarter-finals (1-0). "We have world-class players in every position, so we have our chances," positive the Danish international who plays in the middle of a constellation of foreign stars.
150,000 euros for the winner
Subscribed to the places of vice-champion (eight times since 2011) behind the ogre Lyon, Paris SG does not have much to envy to Gones in terms of financial resources. The budget for girls at OL is around 7.5 million euros (€ 310 million for men), slightly above that of Parisiennes (€ 630 million for boys). At the end of this Franco-French standoff in the Basque Country, a final at the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastian (against Wolfsburg or Barcelona opposing Tuesday night) and the possibility of expanding (or opening for PSG) the continental prize list.
Glory without wealth. The winner will receive only 150,000 euros from UEFA, which has planned to significantly increase the gains from next season. An amount still light years away from that of men and Bayern Munich, which pocketed 19 million euros for their victory against Paris SG (15 million as a finalist and 4 million as the winner).
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