The View From France: Champions League Week One

Jean-Pierre Thiesset summarizes the first week of action from the three French teams in the UEFA Women’s Champions League: Olympique Lyonnais won, whilst Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain lost (16/11/23).

Above: Ellie Carpenter leading the celebrations after Olympique Lyonnais’ big win over Slavia Prague with her teammates. Photo: Damien LG – Olympique Lyonnais.

Slavia Prague 0-9 Olympique Lyonnais

With almost 70% of possession and huge domination across the park, this was almost a too-easy game for Lyon who were ahead 5-0 after only 24 minutes. Perle Morroni, who started the game on the left side of Lyon defence in place of Selma Bacha, showed that she was more than a mere substitute. She provided two decisive passes for goals, and was involved in several other opportunities.With six goals at halftime, Sonia Bompastor, Lyon’s coach, was able to make a few replacements to preserve Kadidiatou Diani and Eugénie Le Sommer at the beginning of second half and Ellie Carpenter, Sarah Däbritz, and Lindsey Horan on the hour.

Daniëlle Van De Donk put in a great performance scoring once (14’), and delivering two assists (21’, 62’), earning her the player of the match award. Ada Hegerberg scored her 60^th goal in UWCL increasing her record.

Teams: SLAVIA PRAGUE (4-2-3-1): Lukasova, Xiangting Xiao, Bartovicova, Keene, Vesela, McLaughlin, Surnovska, Khyrova, Cerna, Stackpole, Ruzickova. Substitutes: Slajsova (46’), Moravkova (46’), Bendova (68’), Nekesa (68’), Divisova (81’).

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS (4-3-3): Endler, Morroni, Renard, Gilles, Carpenter, Däbritz, Horan, Van De Donk, Le Sommer, Hegerberg, Diani. Substitutes: Becho (46’), Majri (46’), Sombath (60’), Marozsan (60’), Selma Bacha (60’).

Scorers: Däbritz (3’), Van De Donk (14’), Gilles (17’, 80’), Le Sommer (21’), Diani (24’), Diani (45’), Hegerberg (60’ penalty), Majri (62’).

Referee: Eleni Antoniou (GRE).

Attendance: 2,728.

Paris FC 1-2 BK Häcken

Paris FC started strongly and increased their overall possession as the game went on but without having clear opportunities and it was Häcken who opened the score through Rosa Kafaji before the half-hour through a counterattack.

Jennifer Falk, BK Häcken’s goalkeeper, cleared a great shot from Julie Dufour on 36 minutes to prevent Paris FC from getting even. She made another great save towards the end of the match. There were too many inaccuracies in the final pass from Paris FC’s players which stopped them from creating decent chances. Of note: Felicia Schröder, only 16 years old, came on for Häcken at halftime for her third UWCL match.

Teams: PARIS FC: 4-3-3: Nnadozie, Soyer, Greboval, Hocine, Bogaert, Korosec, Corboz D., Matéo, Dufour, Bourdieu, Thiney. Substitutes: Ribadeira (60’), Le Mouel (60’), Abdullina (66’), Fleury (81’).

Scorer: Dufour (59’ penalty).

BK HACKEN (4-2-3-1): Falk, Junttila-Nelhage, Luik, Rybrink, Kosola, Curmark, Bergam-Lundin, Sandberg, Kafaji, Anvegard – Masaka. Substitutes: Schröder (46’), Sorensen (76’), Jusu Bah (86’).

Scorers: Kafaji (29’), Sandberg (56’).

Referee: Catarina Ferreira (POR).

Attendance: 1,746.

Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 Paris St. Germain

Ajax picked up a superb victory in front of a big crowd at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

The first half was even, and the ball went back and forth without any real opportunities. However, in the 34th minute, Ajax opened the score on a quick counterattack with Tiny Hoekstra netting. The hosts came close to double their lead just three minutes later. In the 45th minute, Clare Hunt’s late tackle in the box conceded a penalty. Sherida Spitse took the kick and scored. In the second half, PSG tried to apply more pressing and obtained more opportunities but without success. There was a great save by Regina Van Eijk, Ajax’s goalkeeper, from a shot from Korbin Albert on 72 minutes. The Dutch side fielded a number of young players who started the game: Isabella Yohannes, Americanm, (16), Isa Kardinaal, (18), and Rosa Van Gool (19).

Teams: AJAX AMSTERSAM (4-3-3): Van Eijk, Weerden, De Sanders, Spitse, Kardinaal, Yohannes, Van Gool, Noordam, Tiny Hoekstra, Leuchter, Grant. Substitutes: Van De Velt (68’), Keijzer (68’), Sabajo (78’) Noordman (78’), Isabelle Hoekstra (85’).

Scorers: Hoekstra (34’), Spitse (45’+1 penalty).

PARIS ST.GERMAIN (4-3-3): Picaud – Karchaoui, Hunt, De Almeida, Le Guilly – Albert, Groenen, Geyoro – Chawinga, Katoto, Baltimore. Substitutes: Vangsgaard (55’), Fazer (68’), Folquet (68’), Bachmann (83’).

Referee: Tess Olofsson (SWE). 

Attendance: 13,106.

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