There is no match between players like the one this Saturday in Oslo between Barcelona and OL Lyonnes (18.00; La 1, TV3 and Disney+). The poster for the Women’s Champions League final is unbeatable, pitting the French team, the competition’s dominant force with eight trophies, against the team that has become the new continental benchmark by winning three titles and reaching seven finals since 2019. Since that year, when the Blaugranas fought for the Champions League for the first time — crashing precisely against Lyon — their progress has been so extraordinary that today’s match at Ullevaal Stadion is already the most repeated — four times — in the event that decides each season who reigns in Europe. UEFA’s women’s football director, Nadine Kessler, eloquently summarized the clash on Wednesday: “An absolute spectacle, the two best teams of all time.”
Read more The books booksellers love: 66 must-read titles for the Madrid Fair 2026
Beyond placing the two continental giants, the match confronts two opposing club models. Barça is owned by its members, with a mass of supporters who packed the 2024 final in Bilbao. OL Lyonnes belongs to South Korean magnate Michele Kang, who also owns Washington Spirit and London City Lionesses. Her football empire has drawn from Barcelona so much that it has recruited players and members of the technical structure such as the sporting director and the coach from there.
Jonatan Giráldez, Lyon’s coach, was the first to leave. He was followed by Markel Zubizarreta, the architect who professionalized Barça from 2015 to 2023 and now serves as general sporting director of Kang’s group. The magnate has not hesitated to spend money to sign big names while her rival goes through a period of hardship that forced it this season to let go of players like Jana Fernández or Ingrid Engen, both now in the South Korean’s empire, which also tempts two Barcelona stars like Alexia Putellas and Mapi León.
The reunion of the Blaugranas with Giráldez has a morbid component after the Galician coach decided to leave for Washington Spirit in 2024 after achieving the only quadruple in Barcelona’s history —League, Cup, Supercup, and Champions. “Europe will not be my next destination. I think it is important not to compete against Barça,” he said then. It only took one season for him to move within Kang’s empire and jump to OL Lyonnes. “I have heard it said that I left never to compete again [against Barcelona]. That is something that did not come from my mouth,” the Vigo native clarified on Tuesday.
Giráldez will face Pere Romeu this Saturday. His former assistant and analyst during his time at Barcelona is also aiming this season to crown a perfect campaign after winning the Supercup, the League, and the Cup. “Is the Jona from two years ago the same? No. Is the Pere of today the same? Neither. If you follow the same line in your methodology, you stagnate. You have to try new things and even though we know each other, now we are totally different coaches,” reflected the Blaugrana coach.
Read more Riquelme signs ‘in extremis’ with Andbank the bank guarantee to run in the Real Madrid elections
Although both teams are very dominant, Barcelona’s exciting and attractive proposal always revolves around possession and ball control, while OL’s is much more vertical, driven by the power and skill of its forwards. Barça’s midfield, with Alexia, Patri, and Aitana, is the team’s representative sign, even though the three-time Ballon d’Or winner has recently recovered from her fibula injury and it seems unlikely she will start. The French club’s brand is more identified by the level of its strikers, wingers, and midfielders, as powerful and physical as Dumornay, Katoto, Brand, or the injured and absent Diani.
The final, in short, pits the two best teams in the competition by statistics and squad market value — 14.1 million euros for Barcelona and 10.7 million for Lyon. The Blaugranas have scored the most goals (37) in the Champions, had the highest average possession (64.7%), achieved the highest pass accuracy (90.1%), and shot at goal the most times (246), but OL is second in all those categories (26; 59.8%; 85.6%; 240).
The rivalry, which has become a European classic, was born in Budapest in 2019, when the French crushed Barça (4-1) in their first final against each other. Barcelona was then a newcomer to the elite, far from the era-defining team it is today and that in 2024 defeated OL for the first time to lift its third Champions. Alexia referred yesterday to Barça’s progress since then: “The most special part of this evolution began in a final against Lyon where they crushed us and we saw the real level of the European champions. We put on our work clothes and have come as far as we are now.” Seven years later, Barça is already a continental giant that competes with and knows how to beat the most decorated club in history.
Read more Zelenski rejects the German proposal for Ukraine to be an associated state of the EU
