Five things we learnt from Arsenal’s victory in Lyon | OneFootball

Renee Slegers’ side outclassed European giants Lyon to reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

Here’s five things we learned from the performance and result.

Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

1. Renee Slegers won the tactical battle against Joe Montemurro

The Australian manager sprang a surprise by selecting Ada Hegerberg at 9 and moving Melchie Dumornay into midfield, dropping Danielle van de Donk from the starting XI. He also started Wendie Renard for her 500th Lyon game instead of youngster Alice Sombath, who had played well at the Emirates Stadium.

Renee Slegers reinstated Daphne van Domselaar in goal, while Chloe Kelly came onto the wing for Beth Mead. I actually thought Caitlin Foord would be dropped after her poor performance at the Emirates, but I was very wrong, as the Australian winger performed superbly in Lyon, just as she did in the previous 5–1 away win.

Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

Last week, Lyon posed a three-pronged fast attacking threat with players frequently threatening to run behind the Arsenal defence. With Hegerberg leading the line, a player who does most of her damage inside the penalty area, Arsenal were allowed to defend with a higher line than last week, putting far more pressure on Lyon‘s build-up play.

Arsenal won the midfield battle, effectively cutting the supply line to the Lyon forwards. With Kim Little, Mariona Caldentey, and Frida Maanum pressing well alongside the front three against Selma Bacha, Dumornay, and Sara Däbritz, Arsenal were able to completely disrupt Lyon‘s attacking scheme.

2. The fans were out there in numbers

A total of 530 tickets were sold, marking the most UK travellers ever for a game. There were even more away fans (over 1,000) in Oslo overall, as the Arsenal supporters’ group is particularly strong in Scandinavia. It is a long way from when I used to be the sole away fan at some European games in the early 2000s.

3. Arsenal are the first team to reach the UWCL final after starting in qualifying round 1

The adventure began at Meadow Park in September, with a four-team mini-tournament and wins against Rangers (6–0) and Rosenborg (1–0). In the second round, they lost 1–0 away to Häcken but triumphed 4–0 in the home leg to qualify for the group stage.

Arsenal topped Group C ahead of Bayern, Juventus, and Vålerenga, setting up a quarter-final tie against group runner-up Real Madrid. The Spanish team won 2–0 at home on a horrible, unfit pitch, but Arsenal overpowered them 3–0 at the Emirates Stadium on a perfect surface.

In the semi-final, Lyon won 2–1 at the Emirates, but Arsenal found the resources to win 4–1 away at the Groupama Stadium. The final will take place in Lisbon against a Barcelona side that destroyed Chelsea 8–2 on aggregate. It will be the ultimate test for Renee Slegers and her troops.

4. Arsenal’s win at Lyon has huge consequences

England will now finish second in the five-year association ranking and therefore will qualify two teams directly for the League phase in 2026/27.

This is big news for WSL teams, as avoiding a qualifying round allows for better pre-season planning and recruitment, with guaranteed Champions League football.

5. Renee Slegers is a formidable coach

Renee Slegers excels at adapting and tweaking tactics to improve her team. We have seen twice in the Champions League knock-out stage that the team managed to overturn a deficit from the first leg to advance.

She has consistently demonstrated an ability to deeply analyse matches and make smart adjustments to both tactics and personnel. She is also known for early second-half substitutions if things do not go according to plan.

That flexibility is key, alongside the players’ buy-in and their ability to shift into multiple roles when needed. Often, a single substitution triggers positional changes for three or four players during a game.