Montemurro eyes Arsenal scalp as Lyon close on Champions League final

PARIS: Record eight-time champions Lyon are on the verge of yet another Women’s Champions League final, with coach Joe Montemurro hoping to lead the French side past his old club Arsenal in this weekend’s semi-final second leg.

Lyon beat the Gunners 2-1 in the first leg last Saturday at the Emirates Stadium, Haitian forward Melchie Dumornay scoring their late winner after Mariona Caldentey’s penalty for the hosts had cancelled out Kadidiatou Diani’s opener.

They might no longer be the most feared team in European women’s club football since the rise in recent years of Barcelona, but Lyon have been unstoppable this season. They won all six matches in the Champions League group stage, notably defeating Wolfsburg home and away, before crushing Bayern Munich 6-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile they remain unbeaten in their domestic league and are favourites to claim an 18th French title in 19 years. It has been a fairly seamless transition to life under new coach Montemurro, the Australian who took over last July on a two-year deal.

Montemurro, who spent the previous three years in Italy at Juventus, had the tough task of succeeding Sonia Bompastor on the Lyon bench. Bompastor captained Lyon when they won their first Women’s Champions League title in 2011, and coached them to the most recent of their record eight crowns in 2022.

She also took them to last season’s final, in which they were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona in Bilbao, before leaving to take charge of leading English side Chelsea. However, Lyon kept their squad together, and even strengthened by adding the likes of Tabitha Chawinga, the Malawian who was the top scorer in the French league last season with Paris Saint-Germain.

They also signed Brazil defender Tarciane in February from Houston Dash in the United States for a reported transfer fee of almost one million euros ($1.13m), a French record. In the Champions League, destiny dictated that Lyon’s path towards the final would see them come up against Arsenal.

Montemurro coached Arsenal for three and a half years until the end of the 2020/21 season, leading them to the English Women’s Super League title in 2019. “I said to the players that we’re only halfway there, we’re not there yet,” Montemurro said after the first leg.

“Arsenal will go into the second leg with no pressure -- they’ve just got to go for it and, sometimes when the pressure is off, that can be dangerous.” Montemurro therefore tried to temper excitement around Lyon that the team might make it to Lisbon on May 24 for what would be their eighth final in the last 10 seasons.

“I always have faith in my team. The circumstances are obviously favourable... but I would never want to underestimate Arsenal,” he said. “They are a formidable side, a fantastic side, and we still have a job to do in Lyon.”

While Arsenal warmed up for the trip to France by beating Leicester City 5-1 in midweek, Lyon won 2-0 at Nantes in their domestic league. Lyon’s emblematic captain and centre-back Wendie Renard is hoping to return from injury in time to make her 500th appearance for the club. The hosts are hoping for a crowd of at least 20,000 for the game, although that is a long way short of their stadium’s capacity of almost 60,000.