As the most successful side in UEFA Women’s Champions League history, all eyes were on Olympique Lyonnais on Tuesday – as they commenced their 2023/24 campaign on the road against Slavia Praha.
SLP: Lukásová; Xiao, Bartovičová, Keene, Veselá; McLaughlin, Šurnovská; Khýrová; Cerná; Stackpole; Ružičková
OL: Endler; Morroni, Renard, Gilles, Carpenter; Däbritz, van de Donk, Horan; Le Sommer; Hegerberg, Diani
It took just three minutes for the French visitors to open the scoring in Prague, with Sara Däbritz firing home from around twelve yards out after a perfectly placed cross from the left flank. The second goal followed just over ten minutes later, with Daniëlle van de Donk arriving on scene to tap home a close-range finish.
The goalscoring was far from over though, and Olympique Lyonnais scored another four before the interval to ensure they carried a six-goal buffer at the break. Vanessa Gilles, Eugénie Le Sommer and Kadidiatou Diani all found the back of the net with headed efforts – the latter bagging a brace before Eleni Antoniou blew for half time.
On the hour mark, Ada Hegerberg slammed home from the penalty spot after being tugged by Diana Bartovičová. In scoring from the spot, the Norwegian international netted her 60th goal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League – a feat that has taken her just 62 appearances to achieve.
Latching onto a sublime ball from van de Donk, Amel Major added Olympique Lyonnais’ eighth goal of the evening just seconds later – and Gilles completed her brace, and the team’s goalscoring exploits, in the 80th minute.
Sonia Bompastor’s side will host Dijon this weekend, before welcoming St Pölten to the Groupama Stadium on November 22.
