• Beaten by Chelsea (0-1) on Wednesday at home, Olympique Lyonnais is badly launched in its quarter-final of the Champions League.
  • Generally dominating, Lyon showed a cruel lack of offensive efficiency against the Blues.
  • The absence of Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg, injured for many months but back in the group on Wednesday, has once again weighed heavily for such a European shock.

At Parc OL,

How did Olympique Lyonnais go from an unstoppable armada of almost four goals per game in some Champions League campaigns to eighth in the competition this season? This is the question that haunts every OL fan who witnessed the problematic setback conceded this Wednesday against Chelsea (0-1), in the quarter-final first leg of C1. "I am obviously frustrated by the result and by our lack of efficiency," said Sonia Bompastor at a press conference.

Despite fifteen shots attempted, including an attempt on the post of Delphine Cascarino (60th), her players never really seemed able to punish Chelsea on this European shock, contrary to some offensive demonstrations in their history in C1 (7-0 against PSG in the half in 2016, 4-1 against Barça for the final in 2019). The fault of a squad otherwise less stocked with killers in front of goal this season? "I have an expanded group in number but also in quality, nuances Sonia Bompastor, who quickly brought in five players in the second half on Wednesday. The idea was to bring freshness and a little more madness. »


OL as dependent on Hegerberg as Lacazette?

But Vicki Becho (19 years old and only 3 goals at the professional level) and Melvine Malard (back from injury) were not sharp in front of goal as the starters Eugenie Le Sommer and Delphine Cascarino. An observation that is not limited to this meeting, as the Lyon leader has struggled unusually, including in D1, to take the best on formations like Guingamp (0-0), Soyaux (2-1) or Le Havre (1-0). German midfielder Sara Däbritz confirms.

We had a lot of chances and we know we have to be more efficient in such a game. Sometimes it's like that... But we can turn things around. We remain positive ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge. »


Same story Wednesday night on the side of the Canadian Vanessa Gilles: "It's been a few months that we work on our efficiency, and there we could have, we should have scored. We will gain confidence by scoring goals. There, we got Ada back and she is already making a difference in the group with her energy." Because inevitably, seeing this team compete with its male counterpart in its waste in the opponent's box, we regularly took a look at the edge of the sidelines to see where Ada Hegerberg was in her warm-up. OL seem to be as dependent on their Norwegian star, injured since the end of August, as on Alexandre Lacazette in the boys' category.


LYON NEARLY GET A GOAL BUT IT HITS THE POST 😱 #UWCL LIVE NOW
🇬🇧 ⬇️https://t.co/XhB9aAjSQJ
🇫🇷 https://t.co/y925FNuaSa pic.twitter.com/j1qdomnQyd

— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) March 22, 2023

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Back in the group on Wednesday, the 2018 Ballon d'Or finally did not come into play against Chelsea. "In the context, in view of this match with a lot of intensity and duels, and the number of months she was absent, I felt that it was not the right timing to bring her in," said Sonia Bompastor. While slipping an implacable observation: "The Chelsea players had not created any situation until the goal [by Reiten in the 28th], and they showed efficiency from their first opportunity. So I think mentally it was a blow for us on the pitch." In eight days at Stamford Bridge, we can still imagine seeing the player/killer with 59 goals... in 60 Champions League games have a say on the pitch.

  • Football
  • Sport
  • Women's football
  • Champions League
  • Olympique Lyonnais (OL)
  • Chelsea
  • Lyon
  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Rhône-Alpes