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Wednesday, May 6, 2026

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UEFA Women’s Champions League

Olympique Lyonnais 3 Arsenal 1

(Lyon won 4-3 on aggregate)

Arsenal’s bid to defend their UEFA Women’s Champions League title ended in heartbreak as Jule Brand’s 87th-minute winner secured a 4-3 aggregate victory for Olympique Lyonnais at Groupama Stadium.

The Gunners travelled to France with a slender advantage following a hard fought 2-1 first leg win at the Emirates Stadium, which was aided by two defensive errors from the eight-time European champions. However, Lyon produced a spirited comeback to eliminate the holders and deny Arsenal a place in back-to-back finals – a feat no British side has achieved to date in the competition.

The tie appeared to be swinging Arsenal’s way again early on when Lindsey Heaps saw a goal disallowed, and goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar produced a superb save to deny Wendie Renard from the penalty spot inside the first 20 minutes. Yet VAR intervened, ruling that van Domselaar had left her line prematurely, Renard stepped up again and made no mistake with the retake, levelling the aggregate score.

Lyon took the lead shortly afterwards as Kadidiatou Diani stole in at the back post to fire the hosts ahead on the night.

Arsenal responded when Alessia Russo found space between defenders to level the scores once more, but the drama was far from over. With just three minutes remaining, Brand curled a superb effort into the far corner. Following a lengthy VAR check for a marginal offside decision, the goal stood – sending Lyon through to the final and ending Arsenal’s European campaign in cruel fashion.

The result means Lyon advance to contest the showpiece match, while Arsenal must now refocus on their domestic campaign after a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful defence of their continental crown.

Lyon will be up against Barcelona in the Final - the third time the teams will meet at this stage - after the Spanish side completed a 5-3 victory over Bayern Munich on aggregate by beating them 4-2 at Camp Nou.