Champions League Final

Matildas star Ellie Carpenter is on the brink of a second Champions League winner's medal, with her French club Lyon preparing for a blockbuster final ...

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Champions League, it’s one of the best competitions there is - the best against the best in Europe. You can’t get much better than that. Saying you’re the best club in Europe after you win, it’s quite a nice title to have. It’s so good for the game. “It brings the level up, it’s more competitive. “I’m more experienced, playing more high-pressure games week-in, week-out, with the league and Champions League,” she said. But you have to be, or you have to try to be. For now, though, the focus is Barcelona, who trounced Sam Kerr’s Chelsea 4-0 in last year’s Champions League final, but lost 4-1 when they met Lyon in the decider three seasons ago. Carpenter shares a dressing room with some of the world’s best players, including Norwegian superstar Ada Hegerberg, emerging American sensation Catarina Macario, Chilean goalkeeper Christiane Endler, and the backbone of the French national team that sits No.3 in FIFA’s world rankings. “I wasn’t really meant to be there, but I was, which was a great bonus. And so Sunday morning’s final (AEST) against Barcelona at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy, is more meaningful, more real. It was no less amazing an experience for the dashing Matildas defender in her first taste of European club football, and just being on the team sheet made her the first Australian to have won a major European final since Harry Kewell with Liverpool in 2005. Two months after Carpenter joined Olympique Lyonnais, in mid-2020, she found herself on the bench for the 2019-20 Champions League final.