May 20 – Conspicuous by her absence from Norway’s women’s World Cup squad, Ada Hegerberg proved she is still a global superstar by steering Lyon to a crushing 4-1 win over Barcelona on Saturday in the women’s Champions League final as they won the trophy for a fourth successive year.
Hegerberg’s 16-minute first half hat-trick capped another dominant display by the Women’s Ballon d’Or winner and her team who never looked likely to relinquish their hold on the title in Budapest.
Hegerberg, who has played 66 times for her country and netted 38 times, decided in the summer of 2017 to stop representing the national team in an effort to draw attention to the pay differences between the men’s and women’s game. But at club level, she remains an unstoppable force.
Barcelona may be one of great powers of European football but it’s a different story in the women’s game where they are as vulnerable as anyone else and were summarily dispatched in their first final, in large part due to Hegerberg.
Lyon have now reached the final in eight of the past 10 seasons and victory against Barcelona meant a record-extending sixth title during that period.
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