All eyes are on Bilbao as Barcelona and Lyon aim to win this season’s Women’s Champions League.
Barcelona Versus Lyon
With Barcelona and Lyon scooping up the last eight Champions League titles between them, you could not ask for a more fitting final on Saturday.
Two Dominant Forces
When it comes to creating dynasties within the confines of European Women’s club football, Barcelona are aiming to build one and if they can get the better of opponents Lyon in this season’s Champions League final, they will be well on their way to building one.
Then again, in regard to the creation of football dynasties, Lyon will feel that there has already been constructed and although they only reached the last eight of last season’s edition of the competition, they have also previously won it eight times.
A tally that means the French feminine outfit are the gold standard when it comes to landing European gold and with the most successful club in the competition’s history going up against the holders, we could be set for fireworks in the city of Bilbao.
A Spanish venue stages the showpiece event for 2024 and although holders Barcelona will have less distance to travel, that in itself should not be considered as an overwhelming factor before the two teams take to the field.
If there is to be an overwhelming factor, it is the way that Jonatan Giráldez’s side turned the tables in their favour against Chelsea in the semi-finals. Emma Hayes’ hopes of winning the Champions League before her departure looked a going concern after a 1-0 first leg win.
However, success on enemy territory was only celebrated for so long and by the time the two sides met again at Stamford Bridge for the second leg, a 1-0 disadvantage would eventually be converted into a 2-1 aggregate win.
Goals from Aitana Bonmati and Fridolina Rolfo meant Hayes’ hopes went up in smoke and after booking their place in then final, the next task would be to see which French opponent would be joining them in Bilbao.
Would it be PSG or Lyon? After the first leg of their semi-final, the advantage was with the latter thanks to their 3-2 home win. The advantage and the tickets to the final would then be secured with a 2-1 win in the second.
Success against their nearest domestic rivals now needs to be converted to success on the European stage and although Lyon have acted out this scene plenty of times before, they know not to fluff their lines when the spotlight is shining. Can Saturday be the perfect performance?
But now it is time for the first of my two tips and with Barcelona being tipped as favourites, backing them to win in 90 minutes does not offer enough value in a game of this magnitude. However, I do like the look of both teams finding the net before the Spaniards lift the trophy in normal time.
In addition to this, I am going to opt for a correct score prediction and with both teams finding the net, I think 3-1 is where the true value lies for what should be an exciting final. This split of goals is currently priced at 11/1 and this is also going on the betting slip.
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