BILBAO, Spain: Barcelona must find a way to beat the most successful club in women's football if they want to build on their recent dominance.
Barcelona face arch rivals Lyon, a team they have never beaten, in their fourth consecutive Women's Champions League final on Saturday in Bilbao.
The Spanish title holders have a chance to finally beat the historic French club and complete an impressive victory by winning their third European title in the space of four seasons.
Lyon, meanwhile, will be hoping to reclaim the trophy after being eliminated in the quarter-finals last season and with hopes running high for Barcelona and their stars Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bommati, who have both won the World Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
“We are a team that has won a lot in the past, but we are still very ambitious,” Lyon coach Sonia Bompastre, the first woman to win the league as both player and manager, said Friday.
“For me we are the best team in the world and whatever happens tomorrow will not change that. I have confidence in my players and I know we have all the individual and collective talent we need to achieve this goal.”
Bompastor, who could become the first woman to win two trophies as a manager, said rivals would naturally be motivated to try to beat Lyon, who are appearing in their 11th European Championship final in 15 seasons.
Lyon holds nearly every Women's Champions League club record, having won five consecutive titles from 2016-20. The French team has won all four meetings with Barcelona, including 4-1 in the 2019 final in Hungary and 3-1 in the 2022 final in Italy.
“This Barca is not the same one we faced in the final two years ago,” Bompastor said. “They have new players and every final is a different story. Tomorrow's game will be totally different.”
Bommati said Barcelona have “grown a lot” since their first final against Lyon.
“We had absolutely no experience and we weren't anywhere near as strong physically as the big teams,” she said. “Now we're one of the teams that can probably beat anyone.”
Barcelona could beat Chelsea to win their first European title in 2021 and beat Wolfsburg to win their second in 2023.
“We've had a great season, played great football and we've been in great form in recent weeks,” said Barcelona coach Jonathan Giraldes, who is joining U.S. club Washington Spirit at the end of this season. “It will be a great final because there's absolutely no doubt that these are the two best teams in the world right now. Having another chance in the Champions League means we can show that we are still the best team in Europe.”
Barcelona had nine players on the Spain squad that won the country's first ever Women's World Cup last year and also sent eight players to the semi-final of the inaugural Women's Nations League, which Spain won in February.
Barcelona are seeking their third European title after Lyon's eight and Eintracht Frankfurt's four, having overcome a 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea in the semi-finals to reach the final, where Lyon went on to beat French rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
Lyon are missing two players, Amandine Henry and Catarina Macario, who both scored in the 2022 final in Turin. Another, Ada Hegerberg, is injured but is expected to be fit for Saturday's match.
“Ada has resumed normal team training,” Bompastor said. “He could be available tomorrow.”
