CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – Black evening for PSG and OL, both eliminated in the quarter-finals

It was a black Thursday that PSG and OL experienced in the Champions League. In the quarter-final return, against Wolfsburg, the Parisiennes drew; against Chelsea, the Lyonnaises won. But that was not enough on either count. The two tricolor teams leave the competition, without having seen the last four.

It was the players from the capital who came out first, and who must in addition to elimination suffer the loss of their evening scorer, engine of the Parisian attack, Kadidiatou Diani. The winger broke his collarbone and had to leave the pitch with a bandage. She could miss up to six weeks of competition.

A new injury occurred on an unsanctioned fault, which was not to the taste of Gérard Prêcheur, the Parisian coach. “In the first leg, there is this story of the penalty, the red card of Elisa De Almeida, the injury of Jackie Groenen. In the second leg, we also lost on an unsanctioned foul on the injury of Kadi (Diani), that was a lot“, he lamented, while praising the successful match of his players.

“From start to finish, we didn’t give up, we were united, we managed to get chances… Today, we have to keep our heads up. It’s not a defeat“, also tried to positively captain Grace Geyoro, author of a full match in an unusual role of central back. But this draw closes the door to the Parisiennes of a semi-final which they had reached the last year, to bow against Olympique Lyonnais.

Later, it was precisely OL who went to the mat, in a scenario that one can hardly imagine more cruel. Applied, committed, the Lyonnaises had a full match, and managed to open the scoring in the 77th by Vanessa Gilles to go and snatch extra time. We thought they qualified when Sara Däbritz doubled the bet, in the 110th: they were stronger, better in place.

No French club in semi-finals, first since 2014

Never mind. In extra time of extra time, Lauren James collapsed in the penalty area after a slight contact, enough to obtain a penalty converted at the end of the chaos by Maren Mjelde (120th + 8). Two misses on penalties later, the work of veterans Wendie Renard and Lindsey Horan, and Chelsea validated their ticket, leaving a much better team on the floor during the evening.

No more tricolor team from the semi-finals in the Champions League, that had not happened since the 2013-2014 season. This Thursday, the time is not for celebrations for French women’s football. A flash still split the dark evening: the appointment of Hervé Renard at the head of the France team, which will reveal a first list of players… This Friday, for two friendly matches. A breath of fresh air that can only do good.