In the midst of a debate about whether the hegemony of European football has changed after Barcelona’s first victory against Olympique Lyon in the Champions League final This Saturday in San Mamés, the Barça coach, Jonatan Giráldez, has reduced the euphoria a bit. “The legacy that Barça leaves, over the years, will be seen in perspective, but right now we have to enjoy it,” celebrated the coach, who will leave at the end of this season – he will direct the Washington Spirit next season – after winning the first poker in the club’s history: League, Cup, Super Cup and the orejona from today. “We have been superior, we have played better football, we have scored more goals and it is time to enjoy it, to let loose and share it with your people. What we have experienced has been spectacular, from the welcome to the atmosphere during the 90 minutes. “We want to share with all these people not only the Champions League, but the four titles,” he added.
2
Cata Coll, Fridolina Rolfö, Irene Paredes, Lucy Bronze, Ingrid Engen, Keira Walsh, Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey, Salma Paralluelo and Caroline Graham Hansen
0
Christiane Endler, Ellie Carpenter, Selma Bacha, Vanessa Gilles, Wendie Renard, Daniëlle van de Donk, Damaris Egurrola, Lindsey Horan, Kadidiatou Diani, Delphine Cascarino and Melchie Dumornay
Goals 1-0 min. 62: Aitana Bonmatí. 2-0 min. 95: Alexia Putellas.
Referee Rebecca Welch
Yellow cards Wendie Renard (min. 69), Alexia Putellas (min. 96) and Christiane Endler (min. 97)
Salma Paralluelo has been full of praise for the three years that the Galician coach has been in charge of the bench, in which he has won two consecutive Champions Leagues – Barça already has three, compared to Lyon’s eight. “It has been spectacular, and it has already been demonstrated these years. He deserves as a coach to finish like this. Wherever he goes, they get a gift. I have learned a lot with him,” said the forward. The best player of the match, Aitana Bonmatí, He has also addressed the discussion around dominance in Europe after the victory in the fourth consecutive final that Barça has reached in the Champions League. “I think we have been showing for many years the team we are. Today’s match tells us once again that we are European champions for another year. Olympique is still a great team. I wouldn’t like to say that a hegemony is beginning because that has to be demonstrated every year and we have been doing it for two years,” said the player from Sant Pere de Ribas, the scorer of the first goal of the match.
Above all, Bonmatí celebrated the attendance record in a Women’s Champions League final: 50,827 spectators, the vast majority of them Barça fans after the second largest movement of fans – more than 35,000 people – in the club’s history. “It has been magical. When we came by bus and saw all the streets full around the stadium, I got goosebumps. I could only think that we couldn’t fail,” the current Ballon d’Or winner has confessed. “You can win games, you can lose, but what we are achieving goes much further,” she added.
Lyon’s coach, Sonia Bompastor, appeared at a press conference after the defeat. Asked about a possible change of cycle, the French coach has shown her confidence that the Lyon team will continue competing in the European elite: “I still think that Barça is a great team, but that Lyon is an ambitious club, with a vision very clear, and it is not pleasant to lose. We have to learn from these lessons. We have to work to perform in these finals. We can do better, renew the workforce and work differently. We know the capacity of Barça, also of the Spanish national team, and we have to get closer.”
Bompastor has also spoken about the massive support that Barça has received and its ability as a club to mobilize so many fans, something that has contrasted with the few thousand fans of the French team who have come to Bilbao this weekend: “The Barça has won two Champions Leagues in a row and the dynamic is positive. For results and for quality of play. And they have many followers behind them in the stadiums. It is a source of inspiration for Lyon and for other clubs, we have to achieve the same.”
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