Three years ago, Barcelona were humbled in Budapest by a strong and athletic Lyon side powered by more than a decade of investment. By the half-hour it was 4-0, with Ada Hegerberg’s 17-minute hat-trick stealing the show. A late consolation goal by the substitute Asisat Oshoala would do little to ease the bruising. It was the Spanish side’s first Champions League final but Lyon’s sixth European title, their fourth won consecutively, and they added a seventh the following year.
As Barcelona players, with tear-stained faces, stopped to speak to the waiting media there was a feeling that the standard they needed to aspire to had been emphatically set. It was thrilling then last summer to see Barcelona dismantle Chelsea with an eerily familiar ruthlessness to lift the trophy for the first time.
