Lyon win French title ahead of Women’s Champions League final

Kadidiatou Diani celebrates after scoring Lyon's second goal in the French season finale a
AFP

Lyon warmed up for the upcoming Women’s Champions League final by winning their 17th French title on Friday thanks to a 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the deciding game of the season.

Delphine Cascarino put Lyon ahead at a sparsely-populated Groupama Stadium in the championship final, and Kadidiatou Diani doubled their lead by the midway point in the first half.

Diani netted against her old club following a disastrous mistake by PSG goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek.

Malawi forward Tabitha Chawinga, who has had an outstanding season, pulled a goal back for PSG in the second half but Lyon held on.

Their 17 domestic titles have all come in the last 18 seasons — PSG have denied them once in that time, in 2021.

Sonia Bompastor’s Lyon, for whom former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg was an unused substitute, can now look forward to next Saturday’s Champions League final against Barcelona in Bilbao.

Lyon are the record eight-time European champions and have won the Champions League six times in the last eight campaigns.

However, Barcelona have won two of the last three and are the reigning champions.

Lyon finished well clear of PSG at the top of the 12-team French league at the end of the regular season.

However, this season saw the title decided by play-offs between the top four in the division, with Lyon hammering fourth-placed Reims 6-0 in the semi-finals last weekend.

PSG, meanwhile, had needed penalties to see off city rivals Paris FC, and overcoming the favourites proved a step too far for the side who did recently win the French Cup.

Lyon also beat PSG in the semi-finals of this season’s Champions League.

Authored by Afp via Breitbart May 17th 2024