During the European Championship season in England and the Champions League final in Turin, Italian women’s football achieved one of the most important international results on Wednesday evening. In the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Juventus managed to defeat Olympique Lyonnais 21, the first great women’s team in Europe, winner of seven Champions Leagues, five in a row between 2015 and 2020.
The game, played at the Allianz Stadium, started badly for Juventus, with Lyon leading in less than ten minutes thanks to a goal from the American Catarina Macário. The result remained unchanged until half an hour before the end as Lyon stayed in ten to the removal of Australian Ellie Carpenter. From that moment on, Juventus built up his confidence and in ten minutes first drew with Cristiana Girelli and then scored the winning goal against Agnese Bonfantini.
Before Juventus, no Italian women’s team made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League (this year they became the first knockout round after the group stage). Last year they were eliminated by Lyon in the 1/16 final with a score of 62. In the same edition, Fiorentina stopped in the second round, eliminated by Manchester City with two heavy losses. The rematch between Juventus and Lyon will be played in France on Thursday 31 March: the winner will advance to the semifinals against one of Bayern Munich and Paris SaintGermain.
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