2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final

The 2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final match of the 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 17th season of Europe's premier women's club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the ninth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Women's Cup to the UEFA Women's Champions League. It was played at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 24 May 2018,^[5] between German side Wolfsburg and French side Lyon.^[6] This was the last time that a host city for the Women's Champions League final is automatically assigned by which city won the bid to host the men's Champions League final.

2018 UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Match programme cover
Event	2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League
Wolfsburg Lyon 1 4
After extra time
Date	24 May 2018 (2018-05-24)
Venue	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv
Player of the Match	Amandine Henry (Lyon)^[1]
Referee	Jana Adámková (Czech Republic)^[2]
Attendance	14,237^[3]
Weather	Clear night 26 °C (79 °F) 53% humidity^[1]^[4]
← 2017 2019 →

Lyon won the match 4–1 after extra time, following a scoreless opening 90 minutes; Wolfsburg's Pernille Harder opened the scoring in the 93rd minute, before goals from Amandine Henry, Eugénie Le Sommer, Ada Hegerberg and Camille Abily sealed the win for Lyon, their third UEFA Women's Champions League title in a row (the first team to do so) and their record fifth overall.^[1][7][8]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Women's Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Women's Champions League era.

Team	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Wolfsburg	3 (2013, 2014, 2016)
Lyon	6 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017)

This was Lyon's seventh UEFA Women's Champions League Final, a new record. This was the third UEFA Women's Champions League Final between the two teams, after 2013 (won by Wolfsburg 1–0) and 2016 (won by Lyon 4–3 on penalties, 1–1 after extra time), and the third season in a row where the two teams met, as they also played each other in the previous season's quarter-finals, won by Lyon 2–1 on aggregate.^[6][9]

Venue

 

The Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv hosted the final

The Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium was announced as the final venue on 15 September 2016, following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Athens, Greece to appoint NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium as the venue of the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final.^[10]

Road to the final

Further information: 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Wolfsburg				Round	Lyon
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Atlético Madrid	15–2	3–0 (A)	12–2 (H)	Round of 32	Medyk Konin	14–0	5–0 (A)	9–0 (H)
Fiorentina	7–3	4–0 (A)	3–3 (H)	Round of 16	BIIK Kazygurt	16–0	7–0 (A)	9–0 (H)
Slavia Praha	6–1	5–0 (H)	1–1 (A)	Quarter-finals	Barcelona	3–1	2–1 (H)	1–0 (A)
Chelsea	5–1	3–1 (A)	2–0 (H)	Semi-finals	Manchester City	1–0	0–0 (A)	1–0 (H)

Pre-match

Ambassador

The ambassador for the final was Ukrainian international player Iya Andrushchak.^[11]

Ticketing

Tickets were available on sale for ₴100 and ₴70.^[11]

Opening ceremony

Ukrainian singer Tayanna performed at the opening ceremony preceding the final.^[12]

Match

Officials

On 7 May 2018, UEFA announced that Jana Adámková of the Czech Republic would officiate the final. She would be joined by Sian Massey-Ellis of England and Sanja Rođak-Karšić of Croatia as assistant referees. The fourth official for the final was Ukrainian Kateryna Monzul, joined by fellow countrywoman Maryna Striletska as reserve official.^[2]

Summary

 

Scenes from the match

The match began with near-empty stands due to heavy security at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, where attendance was primarily local Kyivans.^[13] Lyon had the majority of chances in the first half, with several shots near the goal that were saved or deflected out of bounds. While Wolfsburg failed to register a shot on target during the first half,^[3] the team had several attacks that were stopped prematurely by Lyon's defense.^[14] Wolfsburg substituted two of their midfielders, Caroline Graham Hansen and Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir, to bring on winger Tessa Wullaert and relieve Gunnarsdóttir after she showed signs of fatigue. Wolfsburg's defense forced several long-distance shots from Lyon early in the second half, while the team's attacking players failed to create chances on counterattacks.^[13] In the 69th minute, Lyon appeared to have scored the match's first goal on a shot by Amandine Henry, but it was disallowed by referee Jana Adámková.^[13] During the first 90 minutes of play, Wolfsburg only registered two shots, neither of which were on target.^[14]

Wolfsburg scored their first goal in the third minute of extra time on a deflected strike from Pernille Harder.^[13] Two minutes later, a tackle by Wolfsburg's Alexandra Popp on Delphine Cascarino earned her a second yellow card and she was sent off.^[14] Lyon's Henry scored the equalizing goal in the 95th minute on a long-range shot into the top corner of the goal. A minute later, Lyon's Eugénie Le Sommer scored the team's second goal on an assist from Shanice van de Sanden. Van de Sanden would also assist Lyon's next two goals, scored by Ada Hegerberg in the 103rd minute and Camille Abily in the 116th minute, as the team clinched their fifth Champions League title.^[13][15]

Details

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, which was held on 24 November 2017, 13:30 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[16]

24 May 2018 (2018-05-24)

19:00 EEST

Wolfsburg	1–4 (a.e.t.)	Lyon
Harder   93'	Report	Henry   98' Le Sommer   99' Hegerberg   103' Abily   116'

Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv

Attendance: 14,237^[3]

Referee: Jana Adámková (Czech Republic)

Wolfsburg^[1]

Lyon^[1]

GK 1   Almuth Schult RB 9   Anna Blässe CB 4   Nilla Fischer (c) CB 28   Lena Goeßling LB 16   Noelle Maritz   80' RM 26   Caroline Graham Hansen   46' CM 7   Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir   57' CM 11   Alexandra Popp   72'   96' LM 21   Lara Dickenmann   89' CF 17   Ewa Pajor CF 22   Pernille Harder Substitutes: GK 29   Merle Frohms DF 6   Katharina Baunach DF 8   Babett Peter DF 24   Joelle Wedemeyer   57' MF 3   Zsanett Jakabfi MF 27   Isabel Kerschowski   89' FW 10   Tessa Wullaert   46' Manager:   Stephan Lerch

GK 16   Sarah Bouhaddi RB 22   Lucy Bronze CB 29   Griedge Mbock Bathy CB 3   Wendie Renard (c)   107' LB 4   Selma Bacha   61'   65' RM 10   Dzsenifer Marozsán CM 5   Saki Kumagai   95' CM 26   Amandine Henry LM 7   Amel Majri CF 14   Ada Hegerberg CF 9   Eugénie Le Sommer   114' Substitutes: GK 1   Pauline Peyraud-Magnin DF 21   Kadeisha Buchanan MF 8   Jessica Houara MF 11   Kheira Hamraoui MF 23   Camille Abily   114' FW 19   Shanice van de Sanden   95' FW 20   Delphine Cascarino   65' Manager:   Reynald Pedros

Player of the Match: Amandine Henry (Lyon)^[1] Assistant referees:^[2] Sian Massey-Ellis (England) Sanja Rođak-Karšić (Croatia) Fourth official:^[2] Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine) Reserve official:^[2] Maryna Striletska (Ukraine)

Match rules^[17] 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics

Statistic^[18]^[19]	Wolfsburg	Lyon
Goals scored	1	4
Total shots	6	26
Shots on target	3	15
Saves	11	2
Ball possession	55%	45%
Corner kicks	3	8
Fouls committed	11	10
Offsides	2	2
Yellow cards	3	2
Red cards	1	0

References

1. "UEFA Women's Champions League – Wolfsburg v Lyon". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
2. "Adámková to referee Women's Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
3. Garry, Tom (24 May 2018). "Women's Champions League final: Wolfsburg Ladies 1–4 Lyon Feminines (AET)". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
4. "Weather History for Kyiv, UA". Weather Underground. The Weather Company. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
5. "Who will succeed Lyon? The road to Kyiv 2018". UEFA.com. 1 June 2017.
6. "Wolfsburg v Lyon: #UWCL final guide". UEFA.com. 29 April 2018.
7. "Lyon win, Hegerberg makes history: 2018 #UWCL at a glance". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
8. "Lyon beat Frankfurt's record". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
9. "UEFA Women's Champions League – 2017/18 season – Final: Match press kits" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
10. "UEFA Women's Champions League final to take place at Dynamo Stadium!". fcdynamo.kiev.ua. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
11. "Women's Champions League final tickets on sale". UEFA.com. 6 March 2018.
12. "Tayanna to perform at UEFA Women's Champions League final opening ceremony". UEFA.com. 14 May 2018.
13. Wrack, Suzanne (24 May 2018). "Lyon sweep to Women's Champions League win over 10-player Wolfsburg". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
14. Burnton, Simon (24 May 2018). "Lyon Féminin beat Wolfsburg Women to win Champions League final — as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
15. "Lyon beats Wolfsburg 4-1 to win Women's Champions League". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.^{[dead link]}
16. "Quarter-finals & semi-finals draw". UEFA.com.
17. "Regulations of the UEFA Women's Champions League 2017/18" (PDF). UEFA.com. 4 April 2017.
18. "UEFA Women's Champions League – Wolfsburg v Lyon – Statistics". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
19. "Wolfsburg vs. Olympique Lyonnais – 24 May 2018". Soccerway. Perform Group. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2019.

External links

• UEFA Women's Champions League (official website)
  • UEFA Women's Champions League history: 2017/18
• 2018 Women's Champions League final: Kyiv