Lieke Martens failed to prolong the Champions League title with the football players of FC Barcelona on Saturday. The Orange international lost with her team in the final in Turin against Olympique Lyon: 1-3.
Martens did not have a leading role in the well-filled Allianz Stadium, usually the home of Juventus. The winger who recently returned from an injury was unable to do much as a substitute on behalf of Barcelona at a 1-3 deficit.
Damaris Egurrola and Daniëlle van de Donk, Martens’ fellow internationals at opponent Lyon, stayed on the bench for ninety minutes. Like Martens, Van de Donk was only just fit again after a serious injury.
Lyon had a flashy start and took the lead after only six minutes thanks to a long shot by Amandine Henry. Then the French club pushed through and that resulted in a large 0-3 lead after 33 minutes thanks to goals from Ada Hegerberg and Catarina Macario.
Shortly before halftime, Barcelona did something back through star player Alèxia Putellas, but the Catalan team was unable to bring the tension back definitively. As a result, ‘Barça’ failed to prolong the title after last year’s first Champions League win.
For Olympique Lyon it meant the eighth Champions League final victory. The French top club is the record holder with that number, followed by FFC Frankfurt (with four final victories).
Lieke Martens came in as a substitute.
Lieke Martens came in as a substitute. Photo: Getty Images
Martens sees a difficult start from the bench
Lyon, which had won the Champions League five times in a row before Barcelona took over last year, had a dream start in the final. Henry first conquered the ball with a tackle and then took a devastating strike from about 30 meters: 0-1.
Then Barcelona had the chance to come alongside, but Jenifer Hermoso ran into Chilean keeper Christiane Endler. On the other side of the field, it was hit via Hegerberg. It was her 59th Champions League goal in sixty matches for the Norwegian striker, who was already the record holder.
Ten minutes later, Macario put the French club on 0-3 with a tap and the defending champion seemed imminent. Barcelona, however, managed to do something back through Putellas and still have some prospects of title prolongation.
When the margin was still at two after an hour of play, Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez decided to bring in Martens. The Dutch, who excelled in the final last year, once formed the basis of a serious opportunity, which was not used by Asisat Oshoala.
For users of the app: tap the tweet above to view Amandine Henry’s beautiful opening goal.