Pre-Match Notes: It is match day two of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. After a dominant performance and a 9-0 win against Czech club, Slavia Praha, the Olympique Lyonnais Féminin now face Austrian club, SKN St. Pölten. Lyon is looking for another victory in order to maintain their position as number one in the group standings.

As it stands, Lyon is doing well in both the Champions League and regular season. Lyon, last week, thrashed Slavia Praha. I originally thought Slavia would be more of a defensive challenge to Lyon. However, Lyon had no problem breaking through Slavia’s backline and defense. It just goes to show how strong Lyon’s attacking mentality is.

Even when Lyon were down one, in their regular season match against Dijon, Lyon remained unfazed and maintained their attack, until they eventually tied things up in the first half, and go on to add three goals in the second half. It’s not a matter of if Lyon will score, it’s when they’re going to score.

In this match against St. Pölten, Lyon can definitely come away with a win. Truthfully, I haven’t noticed any significant issues with the Lyon’s backline, midfield, or attack. Lyon is fairly consistent across all areas. A small issue could be turnovers in the midfield, but that is a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. Lyon’s control in the midfield is solid overall, and the team is usually quick when it comes to recovering possession. Against St. Polten, we can expect to see Lyon maintaining control and possession, keeping up a very aggressive attack, and hopefully scoring a lot of goals.

Line Up Notes

Starting Eleven: We have Christiane Endler in the goal. For defenders, Ellie Carpenter, Vanessa Gilles, Wendie Renard, and Selma Bacha. In the midfield and attack Daniëlle Van De Donk, Damaris Egurrola, Lindsey Horan, Diani, Ada Hegerberg, and Sara Däbritz.

Overall, this is once again a strong line up, with a very strong attack. It’s great to see Damaris starting. She had to come off early in Lyon’s regular season match against Montpellier a couple weeks ago due to injury, and ended up missing Lyon’s match against Slavia Praha. Her in the midfield with Van De Donk and Horan is going to provide good movement, control, and stability.

As I’ve mentioned in previous videos/articles, I’ve been really impressed with Diani. I would like to see her get a goal in this match. Another player I’m really impressed with from this Lyon team is Däbritz. She’s been doing so well for Lyon, when she gets to Germany, it’s a different story. I was critical of her performance for Germany during the World Cup, but so far, she’s been great in the Lyon attack. As long as Lyon can connect in the attack, connect in the box, and finish their chances, they should do well in this match.

First Half Notes

Olympique Lyon 1-0.

Daniëlle Van De Donk was able to grab the early lead for Lyon, but not much else from the Lyon team in the first half. It’s not a bad performance from Lyon. There’s good control and movement from the midfield and attack. There are plenty of crosses and services coming in. Bacha, Däbritz, Carpenter, and Diani have been able to get behind the St. Pölten backline without much issue, but the connection in the box, along with finishing, needs to be better. At the same time, I think Lyon needs to up their intensity and pace when it comes to their attack. Be more aggressive and ruthless with it, much like against Slavia Praha and Dijon.

As for St. Pölten, Lyon needs to watch out for their counterattacks and transitions. That is something I noticed a little bit in the match against Slavia Praha, but in this match, Lyon needs to make sure they can cut off St. Pölten’s counterattacks and transitions quickly. At the same time, the turnovers in the midfield are also something Lyon needs to be more aware of. Overall, control and possession from the Lyon team are still solid.

I think Lyon can add to their goal count, but it would be beneficial if they can up their pace and intensity in their attack.

Second Half/Closing Notes

Olympique Lyon Wins 2-0.

An own goal from St. Pölten sealed the win for Lyon. This was a much better second half from Lyon. I believe Lyon was able to get more settled in the second half, whereas in the first half, they seemed to have had a harder time finding a rhythm due to stops in play from injuries and fouls. Lyon was on the attack in this second half. They upped their intensity and maintained a quick pace in the attack. Connection in the box seemed a lot better. There were more attempts on goal, but most of them were getting saved or blocked. If I had to guess, I’m thinking Bompastor is going to want her team to work on rebounds, better connection in the box, and finishing.

Lyon also appeared to have better control of the midfield. They weren’t turning over possession as much, and their recoveries were much quicker in this second half. I noticed Lyon’s responses to St. Pölten’s counterattacks and transitions were cleaner and much better than the first half.

Overall, it was still a strong performance from Lyon. They still got the job done. It just seems like it took them a while to get more adjusted and settled. When they did, it spelled the end for St. Pölten in this match.