Ewa Pajor and Salma Paralluelo both scored twice as Barcelona outclassed Lyon to be crowned European champions for the fourth time in their history.
Pajor’s double took her campaign total to 11 in the Champions League, more than any other player in the competition, and put her side on course for victory despite Barca being second best for over an hour of the tie.
But their quality blew Lyon away late in the second period, Salma Paralluelo adding two distinctive strikes of her own to put the game well beyond Jonatan Giraldez’s deflated side. The scoreline was perhaps harsh but a product of Barca’s wonderful finishing ability after an usually underwhelming start.
Ewa Pajor becomes a Champions League winner at the third time of asking having lost two previous finals
Last year’s runners-up found it difficult to establish any proper rhythm in a trying first half in Oslo, Lyon stifling them by pressing hard and high. It’s a level of subordination the Spaniards are rarely subject to in Liga F.
The space for Alexia Putellas to manoeuvre in midfield was limited while service to the forward players was only fleeting. Pajor still managed to carve out two of the first half’s best chances, firing wastefully off target with both.
Lindsey Heaps thought she had punished Barca’s sluggishness by firing home the game’s opener from a Wendie Renard knockdown – until VAR intervened to rule the midfielder offside.
Salma Paralluelo scored two late goals to take the game away from Lyon
A goalless, largely frustrating, first period was conjuring memories of 2025’s final in Lisbon, where Barcelona were suppressed by Arsenal before conceding to a late Stina Blacktenius decider.
But Pajor could only be delayed, not denied. It was finally her moment to shine on the biggest and most rewarding stage of them all.
The 29-year-old, twice a Champions League final loser, continued to get into good positions and eventually got her rewards. Patri Guijarro engineered Pajor’s first with a precise pass to beat the offside trap before Paralluelo gifted the forward an easy second from close range.
Paralluelo herself then scored a sumptuous double in a half that got rather ugly for Lyon, as the young winger rifled home a precise third and finished expertly past Christiane Endler on the angle to put the game to bed. They had goalkeeper Cata Coll to thank for keeping them in the tie before proceeding to score four from five efforts on target.
Few in the women’s game are so clinical when it really matters. And none can claim to be as emphatic as this bold and brilliant Barcelona outfit.
