Lyon beats holder Barcelona for 8th Women's CL trophy

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Lyon earned a record-extending eighth Women’s Champions League trophy after beating defending champion and favorite Barcelona 3-1 in the final on Saturday.

Lyon was 3-0 up after just 33 minutes and cruised home.

The French side has taken eight of the past 12 editions of the Women’s Champions League. Captain Wendie Renard, Sarah Bouhaddi and Eugénie Le Sommer have been part of all those successes.

But Barcelona went into the final the favorite in Turin after one loss all season.

Then Lyon stunned with goals by Amandine Henry, a header from Ada Hegerberg — the league’s all-time leading scorer — and a tap-in from Catarina Macario.

Barcelona captain and Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas pulled one back shortly before halftime, but they ended up repeating their 2019 loss to Lyon in the final.

A fantastic solo effort got Lyon rolling in the sixth minute. Henry slid into a tackle and swiftly got up to collect the ball, cut inside, and curl a 30-yard shot into the top right corner.

Just when Barcelona looked in charge, Lyon scored again after Selma Bacha worked her way down the left flank and crossed in for the unmarked Hegerberg to head in for her 59th goal in 60 league matches.

It was a fitting way for Hegerberg to crown her comeback season. She returned in October after almost two years on the sidelines with injuries.

Lyon was running rampant against a shellshocked Barcelona — which had won all of its matches in the Spanish league — and stretched its lead still further in the 33rd.

The Barcelona defence made a mess of clearing the ball in its own box and Hegerberg rolled it across to Macario for the easiest of shots.

Just before halftime, Putellas put Barcelona on the board to rekindle some hope.

Patricia