Lyon-PSG: The Lyonnaises and the improbable fear of heights before the French championship final

It's difficult to shake up the established order in French women's football. For the seventh consecutive season, and the eleventh out of the last 12, Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais have held the top two spots in the French championship. And just like last year, which saw the reintroduction of the playoffs, the two giants of the sport meet again in the final. OL will host the match on Friday evening at Groupama Stadium (9 p.m.). A match to save their season, a rare enough occurrence to be noted.

In the event of a defeat, Wendie Renard 's teammates would be facing a season without a title, the likes of which the club has almost never experienced. Lyon, which has won 17 of the last 18 French league titles, has only had one trophy-free season in its recent history. That was in 2020-21, and even then: due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Championnes were canceled.

This season, OL have played well in the cup. They were knocked out in the last 16 against Reims (0-0, 10-9 on penalties). This is unprecedented for the Rhône club since the competition was created in 2001. A snub for Australian coach Joe Montemurro, who succeeded Sonia Bompastor last summer and is expected to leave just a year after his arrival, according to L'Équipe .

In addition to the Coupe de France, Lyon failed in the Champions League semi-finals, winning the first leg at Arsenal (1-2) before losing in front of their home crowd (1-4) . "I know that the eliminations in the Coupe de France and the Champions League are unacceptable for this club and I take full responsibility for them," Montemurro said. This did not prevent OL from dominating, as usual, the Arkema Première Ligue: 20 wins, 2 draws, zero defeats, 92 goals scored and 7 conceded.

Having beaten Dijon in the play-off semi-finals last Sunday (4-1), OL, with the eternal Eugénie Le Sommer , but also Kadidiatou Diani, Tabitha Chawinga and Ada Hegerberg, is under pressure. Unlike PSG, which has been through all sorts of emotions at the end of the season. Coach Fabrice Abriel was sacked after the defeat in the Coupe de France final against Paris FC on May 3 (0-0, 5-4 on penalties).

SEE ALSO – Ada Hegerberg’s goal to seal Lyon’s victory against Dijon in the play-off semi-final on May 11 (4-1)

He too will have only spent a year on the bench. The day after his departure, star striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto reportedly had a violent clash with sporting director Angelo Castellazzi, to the point of finding themselves head-to-head. Enough to burst the boil? The Parisians have seemed liberated since then, like Sakina Karchaoui, a regular key player who was temporarily sidelined from the squad and put back at the center of the game by Paulo Cesar. It was into the arms of her new coach that the French left-back threw herself after her goal in the play-off semi-final against Paris FC on Sunday (3-0) .

"My goal was to change the energy, to smile and have fun in training," explained the former Brazilian player, who has coached the under-19s since 2023. The elimination from the Champions League in the preliminary round by Juventus (3-1, 1-2), a colossal disappointment in September, seems a long time ago, on the eve of a new major challenge against the Lyon queens.