2020 UEFA Women's Champions League final

The 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final match of the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 19th season of Europe's premier women's club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Women's Cup to the UEFA Women's Champions League. It was played on 30 August 2020 at the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián, Spain, between German club VfL Wolfsburg and French club Lyon.

2020 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
Match programme cover
Event2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League
Date30 August 2020 (2020-08-30)
VenueAnoeta, San Sebastián
Player of the MatchDelphine Cascarino (Lyon)[1]
RefereeEsther Staubli (Switzerland)[2]
Attendance0[note 1]
WeatherPartly cloudy
19 °C (66 °F)
69% humidity[3][4]
2019
2021

The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Generali Arena in Vienna, Austria, on 24 May 2020.[5][6] On 23 March 2020, UEFA announced that the final was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[7] On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced the match would take place in San Sebastián behind closed doors, as part of a "final-eight tournament" consisting of single-match knockout ties played in two stadiums across the Basque Country.[8]

Lyon won the final 3–1 for their fifth consecutive and seventh overall UEFA Women's Champions League title.[9] As Lyon also won the Division 1 Féminine and the Coupe de France féminine, they completed the treble, the club's second consecutive and fifth overall.

Teams edit

In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Women's Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Women's Champions League era.

Team Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
  VfL Wolfsburg 4 (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018)
  Lyon 8 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

Venue edit

 
The Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián hosted the final.

The final took place at the Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country.[8] The stadium, city, and province hosted their first ever UEFA club competition final. The greater Basque Country however had seen the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao hosting the second leg of the 1977 UEFA Cup Final.

Original host selection edit

 
Generali Arena, the venue originally chosen to host the final match.

An open bidding process was launched on 22 September 2017 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020. Associations had until 31 October 2017 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 1 March 2018.

UEFA announced on 3 November 2017 that three associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League final.[10]

Bidding associations for 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
Country Stadium City Capacity
  Austria Generali Arena Vienna 17,500
  Belgium Stade Maurice Dufrasne Liège 30,023
  Russia VTB Arena Moscow 27,000

The Generali Arena was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Kyiv on 24 May 2018.[11][5] This would have been the first UEFA club competition final hosted at the Generali Arena, and the first to be hosted by the city of Vienna and Austria since the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.[12] It is the home ground of Austrian club Austria Wien. Due to UEFA regulations regarding naming rights of non-tournament sponsors, the stadium was referred to as the "Viola Park" in UEFA materials.

Relocation to San Sebastián edit

The 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League was postponed indefinitely on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[13] The final was officially postponed on 23 March 2020.[7] A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season,[14] with the final decision made at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 17 June 2020.[15][16] It was decided that the remaining matches, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, would be played between 21 and 30 August at San Mamés, Bilbao and Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastián in Basque Country, Spain, as an eight-team single-match knockout tournament, with San Sebastián hosting the final.[8]

Unlike the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, where the host venues of future finals already awarded since 2020 were all pushed back a year, the host venues of future Women's Champions League finals already awarded remained the same. The Austrian Football Association said over 12,000 tickets had already been sold for the final and they would all be refunded.[17]

Road to the final edit

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; N: neutral).

  VfL Wolfsburg Round   Lyon
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
  Mitrovica 15–0 10–0 (A) 5–0 (H) Round of 32   Ryazan-VDV 16–0 9–0 (A) 7–0 (H)
  Twente 7–0 6–0 (H) 1–0 (A) Round of 16   Fortuna Hjørring 11–0 4–0 (A) 7–0 (H)
  Glasgow City 9–1 (N) Quarter-finals   Bayern Munich 2–1 (N)
  Barcelona 1–0 (N) Semi-finals   Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 (N)

Pre-match edit

Ambassador edit

Austrian footballer Nina Burger was the original ambassador for the Vienna final.[18]

Officials edit

On 28 August 2020, UEFA named Swiss official Esther Staubli as the referee for the final. Staubli had been a FIFA referee since 2006, and was previously the referee for the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. She also was a lead referee at the UEFA Women's Championship in 2013 and 2017, including the final of the latter, as well as FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019. She was joined by assistant referees Sanja Rođak-Karšić of Croatia and Oleksandra Ardasheva of Ukraine, with the latter's compatriot Maryna Striletska serving as the reserve assistant referee. Jana Adámková of the Czech Republic was the fourth official. Spaniard José María Sánchez Martínez worked as the video assistant referee in the debut of the system in a Women's Champions League final, and was joined by his compatriot Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea as the assistant VAR official.[2]

Match edit

Details edit

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held on 8 November 2019, 13:30 CET (after the quarter-final and semi-final draws), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[19]

VfL Wolfsburg  1–3  Lyon
  • Popp   58'
Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VfL Wolfsburg[21]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lyon[21]
GK 27   Friederike Abt
RB 9   Anna Blässe   78'
CB 28   Lena Goeßling
CB 23     Sara Doorsoun[22]   39'
LB 6   Dominique Janssen
RM 10   Svenja Huth   14'   61'
CM 15   Ingrid Syrstad Engen
CM 11   Alexandra Popp
LM 14   Fridolina Rolfö
CF 22   Pernille Harder (c)
CF 17   Ewa Pajor   61'
Substitutes:
GK 12   Julia Kassen
GK 77   Katarzyna Kiedrzynek
DF 4   Kathrin Hendrich   39'
DF 5   Lena Oberdorf   61'
DF 13   Felicitas Rauch
DF 24   Joelle Wedemeyer
MF 3   Zsanett Jakabfi
MF 20   Pia-Sophie Wolter   61'
MF 21   Lara Dickenmann
MF 30   Lisanne Gräwe
FW 7   Pauline Bremer   78'
Manager:
  Stephan Lerch
 
GK 16   Sarah Bouhaddi
RB 2   Lucy Bronze
CB 21   Kadeisha Buchanan
CB 3   Wendie Renard (c)
LB 26   Sakina Karchaoui
CM 8   Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir
CM 5   Saki Kumagai
RW 20   Delphine Cascarino   87'
AM 10   Dzsenifer Marozsán   40'   87'
LW 7   Amel Majri   90+4'
CF 9   Eugénie Le Sommer   90+4'
Substitutes:
GK 1   Lola Gallardo
GK 40   Katriina Talaslahti
DF 4   Selma Bacha
DF 12   Ellie Carpenter
DF 15   Alex Greenwood   90+4'
DF 23   Janice Cayman
MF 6   Amandine Henry
FW 11   Shanice van de Sanden   87'
FW 24   Jodie Taylor   87'
FW 28   Melvine Malard   90+4'
Manager:
  Jean-Luc Vasseur

Player of the Match:
Delphine Cascarino (Lyon)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Sanja Rođak-Karšić (Croatia)
Oleksandra Ardasheva (Ukraine)
Fourth official:[2]
Jana Adámková (Czech Republic)
Reserve assistant referee:[2]
Maryna Striletska (Ukraine)
Video assistant referee:[2]
José María Sánchez Martínez (Spain)
Assistant video assistant referee:[2]
Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain)

Match rules[23]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Twelve named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.[note 2]

Statistics edit

Statistic[24] VfL Wolfsburg Lyon
Goals scored 1 3
Total shots 10 13
Shots on target 1 7
Saves 4 0
Ball possession 48% 52%
Corner kicks 4 6
Fouls committed 11 8
Offsides 1 1
Yellow cards 1 1
Red cards 0 0

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[20]
  2. ^ Each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Women's Champions League final Player of the Match: Delphine Cascarino". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Referee team appointed for UEFA Women's Champions League final in San Sebastián". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Wolfsburg v Lyon: Match info". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 August 2020. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. ^ "San Sebastián, Spain Weather Conditions". Weather Underground. 30 August 2020. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Istanbul to host 2020 UEFA Champions League Final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Road to Vienna: 2019/20 #UWCL dates, access list". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2019.
  7. ^ a b "UEFA Club Finals postponed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Women's Champions League finals to be played in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Wolfsburg 1–3 Lyon: Women's Champions League final report". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Six associations interested in hosting 2020 club finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2017.
  11. ^ "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Kyiv meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Vienna to host 2020 Women's Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 May 2018.
  13. ^ "UEFA postpones EURO 2020 by 12 months". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Resolution of the European football family on a coordinated response to the impact of the COVID-19 on competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  15. ^ "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for June meeting". UEFA.com. 11 June 2020.
  16. ^ "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  17. ^ Burhan, Asif (17 June 2020). "UEFA Women's Champions League Final To Be Played In San Sebastian". Forbes.
  18. ^ "2020 Women's Champions League final: Vienna". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Women's Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw". UEFA.com.
  20. ^ "Venues for Round of 16 matches confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Wolfsburg v Lyon: Overview". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Sara Doorsoun - Player Profile - Football". Eurosport. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Women's Champions League: 2019/20" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2020. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Wolfsburg v Lyon: Statistics". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

External links edit