FootyPop: Barcelona and Lyon To Face Off In UEFA Women’s Champions League Final

In this week’s women’s soccer news, the Champions League final is set; Millie Bright announced her retirement; the Washington Spirit are on a hot streak; and more!

High of the Week​

The UEFA Women’s Champions League final matchup is set with FC Barcelona set to take on Olympique Lyonnais on May 23 at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway.

Lyon defeated Arsenal 3-1 on Saturday to move on 4-3 on aggregate. Jule Brand ended up scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute to push Lyon ahead of the defending champions. Lyon has won the Champions League eight times in club history, with the most recent coming in the 2021-22 tournament.

Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich 4-2 on Sunday to push the aggregate in the semifinal matchup to 5-3 and advance to their sixth straight Champions League final. Barcelona has won the tournament three times in its history, with the most recent being in 2023-24. They’ll be looking for revenge after having the sour taste of defeat in the final last year.​

This is going to be a really entertaining matchup with both teams playing really well. This is  the fourth time these two clubs have faced off in the final, with the most recent being the 2024 Women’s Champions League Final when Barcelona defeated Lyon 2-0 for the trophy. Before that Barcelona win, though Lyon had won the first two meetings in the final.

Low of the Week

Millie Bright has announced her immediate retirement from professional soccer. This comes a year after the England star announced her retirement from the international stage. Bright has spent the last 12 years representing Chelsea, and she was also the club’s captain. The defender hasn’t seen the field since February due to an ankle injury that ultimately led to the time being now for Bright to retire. Throughout her career, she has struggled with multiple injuries, and during her retirement announcement, she cited that she was mentally and physically exhausted, making now the time to hang up her boots.

At Chelsea, she made her debut in 2015 and has appeared in 294 games for the Blues. She helped the club win nine WSL titles, and individually, she appeared in the FA WSL PFA Team of the Year four separate times. During her time representing England on the international stage, she made 88 appearances and was part of the 2022 UEFA Women’s Championship-winning squad as well as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup runner-ups.

News of the Week

Last week, it was reported that the NWSL’s Board of Governors would vote on a schedule shift that would’ve made the league have a fall to spring calendar as opposed to the current spring to fall. There were mixed reviews about that scheduling change, with some people welcoming the change that would put them on the same schedule as other professional leagues around the world, while others were worried about what that would do in terms of weather in certain cities, for example. There were pros and cons to the change, but ultimately, the league has decided to stick with the current format at least until 2031. Which, at the moment, is probably the right decision, as it seemed that many players were against the change. This likely won’t be the last we hear of this topic as the league still has a decision to make in the next few years, but for now, there won’t be a change.

Game of the Week

The Washington Spirit got an impressive three points in a high-scoring 4-2 matchup against the Orlando Pride. It didn’t take the Spirit long to get on the scoresheet with Sofia Cantore finding the back of the net in just the second minute. That fast start for Cantore continued when she completed her brace just four minutes later. The two goals in the first 5:27 made NWSL history as the fastest brace from the start of a match. The Pride didn’t back down, though, despite being down two goals early on. Orlando got a quick brace of their own, thanks to Barbra Banda right before halftime, to level the score. Washington came out of halftime continuing their scoring ways, with Claudia Martinez giving them the lead in the 55th minute. Then Trinity Rodman would add an insurance goal in the 70th minute to lead the Spirit to three points. It was Washington’s fourth straight win, and they’ve scored 11 goals during the win streak.

Goal of the Week

Rose Lavelle has been in terrific form for both club and country as of late. That continued when Gotham took on the Chicago Stars in a midweek matchup on Wednesday. Guro Reiten got a beautiful ball to set her up down the left flank, and she sent in a wonderful cross that Lavelle hit perfectly off the volley.

Team of the Week

The Utah Royals have been playing really well the last few games, especially defensively. Their 1-0 win over Angel City was their fourth straight victory and third straight clean sheet. It’s their longest win streak in club history. Mandy McGlynn was terrific in goal, making multiple impressive saves to keep Angel City from scoring and preserve the Royals’ lead. The lone goal came from Cloé Lacasse in the 33rd minute, and from there they were able to lean on the impressive defensive performance to lead them to three points. This is a Utah team that was at the bottom of the table last season, but they’re really looking like a team that has turned it around so far in 2026.

Player of the Week

Trinity Rodman is on a tear for the Spirit during this stretch of really good performances from the squad as a whole. Rodman has scored three goals in the last three matches, including the game-winner against Racing Louisville in their midweek matchup. Against the Pride on Saturday, she also had two assists to go with a goal. With her assists against Orlando, she became the youngest player in NWSL history to reach 30 goals and 20 assists. She accomplished the feat at just 23 years old.

Social Media Post of the Week

USWNT and Seattle Reign forward Lynn Biyendolo and her husband, Marley, announced the birth of their first child this week. The couple welcomed a son, Lucky Lachance Biyendolo, on April 29th. Congratulations to Lynn and Marley!

GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS