Parisian striker Tabitha Chawinga, during the Champions League quarter-final return against Häcken, at the Parc des Princes, in Paris, March 28, 2024. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
There will be a French club in the final of the Women’s Champions League on May 25 at the San Mamès stadium in Bilbao, Spain. It will be either Paris Saint-Germain or Olympique Lyonnais, since, as in 2016, 2020 and 2022, the Parisiennes will meet the Lyonnaises – eight times titled in the competition – who qualified on Wednesday evening in the semi-final. against Benfica.
To afford this highly anticipated shock, PSG, finalist of the 2015 and 2017 editions, qualified on the evening of Thursday, March 28, by easily beating the Swedes of BK Häcken (3-0). With this victory, the Parisiennes remain in twenty-two matches without defeat, in all competitions. Their last defeat dates back to November 23, 2023 against Bayern Munich in C1.
“We must above all not leave the route we have traced because, once again, in concrete terms we have done nothing. And we are reaching the important deadlines of the season”explained, Wednesday before the match, the Parisian coach, Jocelyn Prêcheur, at a press conference.
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Chawinga always decisive
Thursday evening at the Parc de Princes, in front of 11,600 spectators including several ultras, its players succeeded in one of these important meetings by dismissing BK Häcken quite easily, without forcing too much. Last week in Gothenburg, they won with a score of 2-1 thanks to goals from American defender Eva Gaetino, who again had a good performance on Thursday, and striker Tabitha Chawinga.
It was again the Malawian who opened the scoring on Thursday after a great job of conserving the ball and projecting the Frenchwoman Marie-Antoinette Katoto (1-0, 27th). Top scorer and passer in the championship, Chawinga scored her fourth goal in the Champions League and once again made an impression with her speed and projections, whether on the left or right side.
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With this goal in advance, the Parisiennes were able to manage the match before knocking out their opponents thanks to midfielder Korbin Albert, who fired a superb shot into the left corner from 20 meters (2-0, 70th), his second goal in C1 this season.
Shortly before the match, the American caused controversy for having shared content of a homophobic and transphobic nature, notably arousing the indignation of former player Megan Rapinoe, a figure in the LGBTQ + movement. “I would like to sincerely apologize for my actions on social media. Liking and sharing posts that are offensive, insensitive and hurtful was immature and disrespectful, which was never my intention.”wrote Korbin Albert on his Instagram account just after the match.
Advantage at Olympique Lyonnais
Very close to scoring with a header after the break, Katoto, very well served by Sakina Karchaoui, perfectly placed a diving uncrossed header to then deceive the Swedish goalkeeper (3-0, 74th), under the eyes of the Bleues coach, Hervé Fox.
“I feel better this evening, I had and am having a big setback that I was expecting a little, it was a complicated period to accept but I knew it was coming”explained in the mixed zone Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who returned in September from a long knee injury keeping her from the field for the entire 2022-2023 season. “I was patient and I continued to work and I hope that this period will be over, especially when I see what I did tonight. I’m preparing for the end of the season »added the attacker.
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Like their male counterparts, the Parisiennes are still in the race this season for a possible triple Champions League, championship – they are second, but 7 points behind OL – and Coupe de France (final against FC Fleury).
Before the double European confrontation scheduled for the end of April, the two clubs have already faced each other three times this season, with an advantage for the Lyon players: two wins, one draw. They could also meet during the D1 play-offs.
The other semi-final of the Champions League will pit FC Barcelona against Chelsea. The Spanish women, defending champions, qualified on Thursday evening by eliminating Brann Bergen (3-1), confirming their first leg victory in Norway (2-1). The English side dismissed Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday evening (1-1 after a 3-0 first leg victory in the Netherlands).
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