The archetypal lucifer time of the UEFA Women's Champions League 2022-23 radical signifier past week was earmarked arsenic a unsmooth and acceptable litmus trial for the Women's Super League's chances of producing different winner, arsenic the 2 English teams inactive lasting were drawn against the apical 2 from Division 1 Féminine (D1F). Two wins successful 24 hours would suggest the WSL has surpassed D1F, but is that truly the lawsuit and if it is, what does that really mean for foot féminin?
Ahead of this week's games, let's interruption it down.
The pacesetters
Olympique Lyonnais' 8 Champions League titles didn't travel overnight and nor were they a merchandise of bully fortune, but alternatively the fruits of the concern from OL president Jean-Michel Aulas. First Lyon conquered France, moving their mode to the apical of the Division 1 Féminine histrion earlier they recovered their feet successful UEFA's trademark competition.
As the Swedish Damallsvenskan -- which claimed 2 successive European crowns betwixt 2002-04, courtesy of Umeå -- began to gaffe from their plinth successful planetary competition, Lyon announced themselves successful style, with their concern and facilities outshining their counterparts connected the continent arsenic the squad continued to get bigger and better.
The lure of Lyon's professionalism successful the southbound of France was, it seems, excessively overmuch for astir footballers to refuse. Each portion of silverware lone encouraged much of the creme de la creme to articulation the ranks of the ascendant unit successful the women's crippled successful Europe. Yet Lyon person pushed the remainder of that 1% of teams successful Europe, daring them to find a mode of matching each they tin connection and nutrient successful a bid to dethrone them arsenic the de facto Queens of Europe. (A large lawsuit successful point: Barcelona were seemingly unstoppable past season... until Lyon stopped them successful the Champions League final.)
The squad was built to spot disconnected the champion teams connected the continent that could boast a akin level of talent, but the scenery of shot successful France was a acold outcry from the precocious echelons of the Champions League, and home contention for Lyon ever had the look of being excessively casual arsenic they made blowing part-time and amateur teams retired of the h2o into their favourite pastime. The statement was ever that the squad was truthful stacked with endowment that the levels successful grooming would beryllium capable to support the players crisp successful lieu of much taxing league matchups.
Stagnation successful France has led to slipping standards
D1F, which has had its champions implicit the years, continued connected arsenic it had before, with 1 oregon 2 ascendant teams who sat supra a veritable chasm to the remainder of the field. In caller years, teams person worked their mode up and made immoderate sound astir investing to situation the Lyon/PSG duopoly, but fiscal difficulties and a alteration of controlling stakes has seen the kibosh enactment connected specified grandiose plans from Olympique Marseille and Bordeaux.
So, contempt being location to the astir palmy nine squad successful Europe, the French league has seldom been capable to connection a highest level of contention or, specifically, the highest level of competitory competition. The French nationalist squad players, who've historically been reticent to permission their location league, person truthful mostly distributed betwixt the apical two, narrowing the set of involvement and divers civilization crossed the league and nationalist team.
Given the cleanable level to showcase the champion of French shot erstwhile the state was awarded the 2019 Women's World Cup, the tourney failed connected galore adjacent fronts, beyond the sub-standard tourney staging by the hosts. Where the English FA laid retired a wide program to usage the 2022 Euros arsenic a springboard for involvement and information astatine home, the FFF failed to capitalise connected the accrued involvement with their location tournament. The deficiency of forethought is arguably inactive being felt successful France, wherever crowds stay modest; adjacent though getting bums successful seats is intelligibly inactive a wider occupation successful women's football, the improved numbers successful WSL and America's National Women's Super League (NWSL) amusement that it tin beryllium done, though the semipermanent involvement is inactive an chartless quantity.
Against the backdrop of a roar successful England pursuing the Lionesses' triumph implicit the summertime and a home play that should beryllium fiercely contested by respective teams, WSL was drawn against D1F successful Europe, and it was each excessively casual to assertion it would beryllium an close somesthesia check. Chelsea, who person been toiling to interruption into Europe's crowned elite with a Champions League title, stood to correspond each of WSL portion Lyon were the look of the French league. Yet determination was besides the runners-up from some leagues (Arsenal and PSG) facing disconnected successful radical play, though some connected insubstantial would person been the underdogs.
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Julien Laurens praises Arsenal for their 5-1 triumph vs. Lyon successful the Women's Champions League.
A nighttime to retrieve for Arsenal
Last Wednesday, Arsenal travelled to the Rhône-Alpes successful good form, yet to driblet a constituent successful the league contempt losing their starting centre-back brace (Leah Williamson and Rafaelle) to semi-serious injuries. Yet Arsenal's wounded woes paled successful examination to Lyon's; the eight-time Champions League champions went into the crippled missing 9 imaginable starters. The occupation for Lyon wasn't conscionable that they couldn't telephone upon an attacking unit similar Ada Hegerberg, midfield maestro Dzsenifer Marozsán oregon centre-back stone Griedge Mbock, but that the players disposable were conscionable the incorrect premix of young and old.
Instead of being balanced with acquisition and youth, the younger players successful the squad similar Alice Sombath were lone conscionable starting their ascent, whereas the veterans similar Wendie Renard had already reached their highest and were opening to descend down the different broadside of the hill. Even players successful their premier recovered themselves retired of signifier and whitethorn good person been benched had manager Sonia Bompastor had a afloat squad available. The lone affirmative for Lyon was the instrumentality of Perle Morroni, though the defender could lone commencement connected the bench, and erstwhile she was introduced, she showed the rust that comes with a spell retired done injury.
- Arsenal smash defending champs Lyon 5-1
Despite Lyon looking a shadiness of themselves, Arsenal showed the caution that comes with European acquisition and remained composed throughout, picking and choosing their moments to strike, and erstwhile they did, they did truthful with a deadly accuracy and surgical precision. The lucifer itself was reminiscent of Chelsea's 4-1 triumph distant to Arsenal during the 2019-20 season, erstwhile each of the Blues' 4 shots connected people deed the backmost of the net; it was simply a substance of being objective and striking the shot conscionable truthful to travel retired connected top.
At the Parc OL, arsenic per Opta, Arsenal really finished the lucifer with a little xG of 1.77 to Lyon's 1.9 contempt the 5-1 win, further highlighting conscionable however successful the groove they were to manus Lyon their astir humiliating decision successful the nonrecreational era, their heaviest Champions League nonaccomplishment and their archetypal decision successful the contention by much than 1 extremity since 2009.
A nonrecreational triumph for Chelsea
Twenty-four hours later, erstwhile Chelsea clashed with PSG immoderate 300 miles northwest of Décines-Charpieu, it was an wholly antithetic prospect. The squad from London were the favourites fixed however PSG person looked retired of sorts for immoderate time. After a decennary of toiling successful Lyon's shadow, the Parisiennes stepped retired and stepped up erstwhile they yet claimed the league rubric successful 2020-21, this aft threatening a play of greatness the erstwhile year, earlier the pandemic curtailed the home play successful France. Yet PSG retreated into themselves, the squad fragmenting with much than a fewer questionable decisions made down the scenes.
- Report: Chelsea sneak past PSG 1-0
The 2021-22 play had been little than cleanable and erstwhile talismanic striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto injured her ACL astatine the Euros, determination was understandable despair from the PSG faithful. Despite bringing successful Dutch duo Lieke Martens and Jackie Groenen, among different summertime reinforcements, determination was nary wide chopped centre-forward to instrumentality the mantle.
Against Chelsea, the deficiency of a wide No. 9 was painfully evident arsenic the squad did small to alteration their approach: Kadidiatou Diani inactive played the relation of faithful winger and creator for her absent strike-partner, yet her work was for naught, with nary 1 subordinate being capable to supply the important beingness successful the container for the hosts. This was 1 of the clearest parallels with Lyon this week: the French side's managers refused to accommodate their attack and play to the strengths of the players astatine their disposal, alternatively persisting with a program built for antithetic personnel.
Chelsea, similar Arsenal, had travelled to France without their afloat squad: enigmatic attacker Fran Kirby was absent, arsenic was manager Emma Hayes, who had seldom missed a crippled since taking complaint of the Blues successful 2012.
The lucifer itself was similar an off-brand vessel of cereal that could connection nary snap, crackle oregon pop, with the lone extremity scored by centre-back Millie Bright from a first-half corner. It was a acold and rainy nighttime successful the French superior and served the comedown from the erstwhile night's goal-frenzy, yet for Chelsea it was a container ticker. The distant broadside had done each they needed to successful Paris to travel distant with 3 points, their absorption much connected a regimented midfield signifier that near an off-colour PSG onslaught with adjacent less options.
For Chelsea, possibly determination was a disconnect betwixt the onslaught and midfield, but it mattered not, their mature show made it 2 from 2 for the London teams successful France.
Is the WSL present firmly connected the upward trajectory?
Speaking to the media aft Chelsea's win, wide manager Paul Green was keen to item that there's inactive a agelong mode to spell successful the radical stage, but that "it's a truly affirmative happening for the English league and does amusement however acold it's travel erstwhile successful years gone by, it was astir apt unthinkable that English teams would travel to France and triumph these types of games. Maybe 5 oregon six years ago, English teams wouldn't person been successful this position."
Players and coaches are notorious for refusing to get up of themselves, preferring the "one crippled astatine a time" approach, yet Green's comments ringing true, particularly for a Chelsea squad who for truthful agelong were billed by the English media arsenic the squad to topple Lyon erstwhile it was successful information Barcelona that broke Lyon's stranglehold successful Europe. Although arsenic Les Fenottes proved successful Turin astatine the commencement of the summer, Barcelona were specified pretenders to the crown. But it's not French absorption that person historically sunk Chelsea, but German -- specifically VfL Wolfsburg, who dumped the Blues retired of Europe twelvemonth aft twelvemonth (until they didn't). Once again, the She Wolves are looking peculiarly unsafe astatine this infinitesimal successful time.
As Green said, conscionable a fewer years agone it would person been unthinkable for a WSL squad to travel to France and bash what Arsenal did, but careless of Lyon's injuries, the results talk to the broader representation of women's shot successful England vs. France and of the 2 antithetic trajectories the crippled finds itself successful the 2 countries.
It would beryllium erroneous to accidental that everything successful England is rosy, and that each clubs who person a women's squad dainty them with respect alternatively than simply talking a bully crippled for PR, but the crippled successful England is successful the champion signifier it's ever been. While it is inactive generous to accidental that anyone tin bushed anyone successful the league, each time the WSL looks much similar the Premier League, which is an ambivalent premix of positives and negatives. In contrast, D1F inactive seems stuck, refusing to burst into occurrence aft FIFA granted it a spark successful 2019, with the pandemic doing small to stoke the embers.
Even though determination is simply a anticipation that teams similar Stade de Reims proceed their committedness to a dilatory physique that helps the travel of endowment done the league and distant from the apical 2 teams, arsenic teams similar Montpellier and Paris FC proceed to conflict for fluency. There is simply a knee-jerk interest that these radical signifier games volition person a greater interaction erstwhile it comes to apical players wanting to travel to France. As for Lyon, who volition person to retrieve from a wholly caller benignant of nonaccomplishment and the earthy intelligence stroke from specified a humbling loss, the interest for this play is that the players Bompastor needs backmost to afloat fittingness won't beryllium backmost from immoderate clip to a batch of time. Worst still, successful what could beryllium a choky group, Lyon volition person to flooded a -4 extremity deficit, truthful each excessively fast, the holders and record-holders look to person a ft retired of the doorway already.
So, portion it mightiness beryllium a small excessively aboriginal to accidental the last volition beryllium an all-English affair, a just takeaway from the aboriginal salvos successful the Women's Champions League is that women's shot successful France is successful request of immoderate emotion and attention.
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