Ada Hegerberg inspires Lyon to Champions League win over Barça

Lyon reasserted itself as the dominant force in European women’s football in style with three first-half goals to beat holders Barcelona in a blistering Champions League final.

Striker Ada Hegerberg was the star, holding up the ball in the buildup to the first goal from Amandine Henry, scoring the second and providing an assist for the third, scored by Catarina Macario, as the usually fluid Barcelona struggled to cope with the force of Lyon on the transition and the French side’s careful game management to protect a two-goal lead, with Alexia having pulled one back, after the break.

Ahead of the final nobody was really sure what would happen in Juventus’s sunken stadium to the northeast of the city centre. Three years ago, there had been a clear gulf between the old and new money of Lyon and Barcelona, with the latter humbled. Barcelona conceded four times in 30 minutes as Lyon ran riot, spearheaded by Hegerberg, who scored a 17-minute hat-trick.

That defeat has fuelled Barcelona’s plans since, it set the benchmark the Catalan club needed to reach, and they have invested and built accordingly. A 4-0 defeat of Chelsea in last year’s final showed signs of the swagger that they had faced two years prior. But still the question remained, had they closed the gap with Europe’s dominant force?

By the 33rd minute the answer was emphatically: no. In the stifling humidity Lyon exploded to life. Within six minutes they had taken a deserved lead. In front of France national team manager Corine Diacre, Henry beat Uefa player of the year Alexia Putellas to a stray pass, edged free and sent her shot twisting into the top corner from 35 yards. It was a statement opener.

“There was women’s football before Barcelona, and it was played