Alexia Putellas stood on the sidelines, watching, the captain’s armband already wrapped around her left arm. For almost two years, since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament on the eve of the Euros, Putellas has spent too long doing just that: waiting, looking on, as others have shone in the spotlight. The clock in the San Mames had reached 90 minutes. Time was up.
Yet it was Putellas who arrived just at the right moment to settle this Women’s Champions League final, striking to earn Barcelona a famous first-ever victory over Lyon and a third European crown in four years. With it, Lyon’s reign may be over, an era passed. Barcelona defended their Champions League and they did it their way, a 2-0 victory over the record eight-time champions sealed by their own.
