Ahead of this weekend’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Lyon, we’ve taken a look back at two of our best matches against the competition’s most successful club.
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The French champions have won Europe’s prestigious tournament a record eight times, but we’re the current champions of course after beating Barcelona in last season’s final!
On October 19, 2022, we won 5-1 away to the then-holders of the Champions League thanks to goals from Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum and Beth Mead, who was still riding the wave of her Euro 2022 success.
Lyon had never lost by three or more goals in this competition, and had not conceded more than four in a game for 17 years before this result.
It took just 13 minutes for us to open the scoring when Kim Little played the ball over the top to Mead, who knocked it across goal for Foord to convert from close range.
Lia Walti was next to pull the strings, threading a pass through for Stina Blackstenius to run onto. Her effort was saved by Christiane Endler, but the rebound fell to Maanum who connected sweetly to double our lead.
Melvine Malard pulled one back from a Lyon corner, but we restored our two-goal advantage as Mead curled a free-kick into the bottom right corner from long range.
Wendie Renard gave the ball away sloppily in the second half, allowing Foord to bend it into the far corner from distance, and Mead put the cherry on top of a magnificent performance when she netted our fifth.
The result was even more impressive considering we only had 47% of possession, as well as 14 shots to 21 from Sonia Bompastor’s Lyon.
“It’s the best game we’ve played in a long time,” Player of the Match Mead said afterwards. “Everything we did on the ball and off the ball was very good. Considering the type of team we were playing, we played very well.”
Maanum added: “It was fun to play out there! It was a really good performance from the team and really enjoyable. I’d rate it up there as a top performance from me and the team.
“I was supposed to play more as a number ten today. I usually play as a six or eight, but I’ve played that role with my team before in Sweden as well, so I like that position too.”
LINE-UPS
Lyon: Endler, Jaurena (Egurrola 38), Renard (C), Sombath, Bacha (Morroni 81), Henry, Van de Donk (Bruun 80), Heaps, Cayman, Le Sommer, Malard (Becho 87)
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Wienroither, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe, Little (C), Walti (Nobbs 76), Maanum, Mead, Blackstenius (Miedema 79), Foord (Hurtig 79)
Want to re-live the action all over again with some fun commentary from Manuela Zinsberger and Katie McCabe? Check it out below!
Fast forward to April 27, 2025, and we overturned a 2-1 deficit to beat Lyon 5-3 on aggregate with a 4-1 victory at Groupama Stadium in last season’s semi-final second leg, reaching the final of the Champions League for the first time since 2007 in the process.
A Chloe Kelly corner forced a Christiane Endler own goal to give us the perfect start in France, and Mariona Caldentey scored a screamer at the end of the opening 45 minutes to send us into the break full of confidence.
When it came to protecting that lead, it seemed the best form of defence was attack as Alessia Russo struck our third immediately after half-time, and Caitlin Foord capitalised on a defensive mistake to create pandemonium among those in red and white, enough to ensure Melchie Dumornay’s 81st-minute goal was nothing more than a consolation.
“So happy, I think we deserved that,” Mariona said after the game. “I think at home we had a good game, even though the score was not what we wanted, but today we smashed it and we scored all the goals we couldn’t score at home, and we are in the final.”
Asked about how this team continually responds to setbacks so well, Mariona praised the mentality behind our comeback ability.
“Well, the thing I said to Renée, we cannot wait for the second game for the final because it’s only one so hopefully we are better from the start,” she explained. “But I think what we are doing, it’s not easy and it says a lot about the mentality of the team and what we want to do. So, I think it’s amazing.”
“Of course, when they scored the 4-1, Lyon, there was a couple of minutes left to play. The scenario goes through your head,” our head coach added.
“What if they score another goal? What if we let it slip so we have to do everything right? I’m so proud of how we defended that lead. And then when they blow the whistle and I look around and I look up into the stand, they’re on the opposite side and I see them and I see the players running onto the pitch. I see everything happening. Staff, all Arsenal people. This is the moment and this is what we do it for. It’s such a special moment.”
LINE-UPS
Lyon: Endler, Carpenter, Gilles, Renard (C) (Sombath 75), Bacha, Egurrola (Marozsan 75), Heaps (Van de Donk 69), Dumornay, Diani, Hegerberg (Le Sommer 69), Chawinga (Majri 58)
Arsenal: Van Domselaar, Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona (Cooney-Cross 87), Little (C), McCabe (Reid 90+2), Maanum (Wubben-Moy 87), Kelly (Mead 71), Foord, Russo (Blackstenius 71)
Our cameras were provided an access all areas pass to the action against Lyon, so press play on the video below to enjoy all of the pre-match build-up, goals from the sidelines and post-match celebrations!
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