⚽ Chelsea "robbed". Toone and Russo Reunited. 30th Anniversary Preds.

THIS WEEKS ROUND-UP INCLUDES:

• Top Headlines: Barca vs Lyon Final. Promotions Confirmed, Bonmatí Glory, Marta Semi-Retires

• Our Picks from the Pitch: Ella Toone Screamer.

• Fave Finds: Tooney and Lessi Russo, New Soccer Drama in Production

• ACL Watch

• Kit Drop: Classic Boots Celebrating the Big 3-0

• Watchlist: What we're watching

• Jobs: Fancy working in football?

 🚨 NEWS | HOME & AWAY

TOP HEADLINES

🏟️ Barcelona are through to their fourth straight Champions League Final after beating Chelsea at a sold out Stamford Bridge. Barcelona will face Lyon at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao on 25 May.

🏆 Aitana Bonmati has become the first footballer to win the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award. Her Spanish teammates won the Team of the Year award. The Laureus World Sports Awards are prestigious and often described as the sports Oscars. Tennis stars have typically dominated in the past, Serena Williams won the award four times.

🐐 Marta has announced she will retire from international football at the end of 2024, although she will continue to play for Orlando Pride in the NWSL. The five-time Olympian and six-time FIFA Player of the Year told CNN Brazil, "If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team." ICYMI: we wrote about Marta’s iconic place in women’s football history.

🔻 Bristol City have been relegated from the WSL. With only one win all season it seemed inevitable they’d go down. There has been praise for the approach of Bristol City, despite their struggles on the pitch this year. They drew a crowd of 9,000 against Man City at the weekend, which is an impressive achievement.

🔺 Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have been confirmed as the Women’s Championship champions following their 0-0 draw with Sunderland, and they’ll take Bristol City’s place in the WSL next season.

⚽ PICKS FROM THE PITCH

WSL: TOP STRIKES AND SAVES

• Issy Hobson becamethe WSL‘s youngest goal scorer at 16yrs and 180 days old when she headed home in the 95th minute to get Everton’s first point against Arsenal since 2012 [Everton 1-1 Arsenal]

• Top Save:Janina LeitzigTop Bins:Ella Toone [Leicester 0-1 Manchester Utd]

• Beth Englandgot on the end of this Neville cross. [Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Brighton]

• Alisha Lehmann came off the bench to grab Villa a goal. [Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham]

• Mary Fowler converted this Lauren Hemp cross. The City win confirmed Bristol's relegation to the Championship. [Bristol City 0-4 Manchester City]

🏆 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS

Hayes's Champions League Dream Goes Up In Smoke

Barcelona and Lyon will meet in the Champions League final after comfortably winning their semi-final ties this weekend. Here's a quick recap in case you missed it...

Chelsea 0-2 Barcelona [Agg. 1-2]

After beating Barcelona in the first leg, all eyes were on Chelsea at a sold-out Stamford Bridge. Despite the record-breaking support, they couldn't recover from Kadeisha Buchanan's sending-off in the 59th minute and inevitably Barcelona came out on top. In the aftermath of the game, the referring decisions were called into question, with Emma Hayes leading the criticism.

What went down?

• Unsurprisingly Bonmatí got the goals started with a strike in the 25th minute. It followed a poor clearance by Chelsea, and a cruel deflection off Buchanan put it the wrong side of Hampton.

• It wasn't Buchanan's night. She picked up a second yellow card for a challenge in which she seemed to get the ball, but in the follow through stood on Guijarros's foot.

• That second yellow card has been hotly debated, with Emma Hayes commenting that the resulting red card was “probably the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions League history”

• Barcelona went on to convert a penalty through Rolfö by which point there was no coming back for Chelsea, who did have their chances earlier in the game, but couldn't finish them.

• Emma Hayes was visibly upset after the match. The Champion's League title has long been her dream, and she admitted the referring decision had left her feeling 'gutted for her players' and 'robbed'.

• Iconic moment: Millie Bright, making her return, came on in the 84th minute and retrieved the captain's armband, only to go up top and play striker for the last 10 minutes.

PSG 1-2 Lyon [Agg. 3-5]

This one was more straightforward and drama-free, with Lyon reaching their 11th Champions League Final.

• After only two minutes, Selma Bacha put Lyon ahead with a pin-point strike and a bit of help from some poor defending.

• PSG responded just before halftime through Chawinga after picking the pocket of a sleeping Lyon.

• The match was put to bed in the 81st minute with a composed finish from Lyon's Melchie Dumornay.

 👀 FAVE FINDS

↳ Toone and Russo have been reunited. Sadly, not in club football. But maybe the next best thing… The Tooney & Russo Show. The podcast launches today (29 April), and we’re expecting nothing less than unfiltered opinions and the usual banter from the duo, who have been friends since age 12. Watch the trailer here.

↳ Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are branching out into production. Their studio, A Touch More, is developing a TV series based on Cleat Cute, Meryl Wilsner's bestselling novel, in which a rookie soccer player falls for her team captain. 

↳ 43% of girls quit sports at 13. In response, Adidas has reimagined its 2006 Jose+10 campaign to encourage more girls to stay in football. As part of the campaign, leading players write letters to their 13-year-old selves, starting with Wendie Renard.

↳ Khiara Keating is on her way to legend status in Manchester. She’s made it onto a wall.

↳ Women in coaching: A new episode of Chelsea’s Nothing Stops Us documentary has dropped and tells the story of Roya, a coach looking to follow in the footsteps of Emma Hayes.

🖋️ INSIDE TRACK

TRANSFERS: WHO'S MAKING MOVES

Lauren Hemp has signed a 3-year contract extension with Manchester City. Her contract was up at the end of the season, and there were rumours of Barcelona circling, but she won’t be going anywhere until at least 2027. If you know Lauren Hemp, you'll know she's a massive Lego fan and her announcement video took that one step further.

Eleanor Heeps has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur. The 20-year-old Goalkeeper, who has been capped for England under-19s, will continue with Spurs until 2027.

 🦵ACL WATCH

🔴 Crystal Palace’s top scorer Elise Hughes, sustained an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury in last week’s game against Lewes. She’s scored 16 goals in 22 games for the Eagles, who have just been crowned Women’s Championship Champions. It means she’ll miss the first half of next season, Palace’s first as a WSL club.

 🤤 KIT DROP

The boots are off: 30th anniversary editions go toe to toe.

It's the year of legendary football boots turning 30. Not only do we have an Adidas limited-edition Predator for you, but Nike has dropped a pearl edition of their Tiempo Legend 10. Both boots are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their launch, and both boots have injected a fresh look to a classic design.

🛋️ DITCH THE SOFA

Ending the season right...

→ Baller FC Watch Parties

Signature Brew Blackhorse Rd, London. Info hereFA Cup Final: Manchester Utd vs Tottenham HotspurSun 12 May, Doors 13:00, KO 14:30

WSL Final DaySunday 18 May, Doors 13:00, KO 15:00

→ The Other Team Presents:

The Women's Super League Watch Party + DJs & Mini-games14:00-2:00, Forest Road Brewing Co. SE14 5RWTickets here

📺 WATCHLIST

THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 1 May

WSL19:00 - Liverpool vs Chelsea [Sky Sports]

Saturday 4 May

WSL12:00 - Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur [Sky Sports]13:00 - Brighton vs Aston Villa [The FA Player]

Sunday 5 May

WSL14:00 - Liverpool vs Manchester Utd [The FA Player]14:15 - Manchester City vs Arsenal [BBC One, Player]15:00 - West Ham vs Leicester City [The FA Player]18:45 - Chelsea vs Bristol City [Sky Sports]

All times in BST

 📂 JOBS

'MORE WOMEN WORKING IN FOOTBALL'

• Content Lead (Women’s) | Aston Villa | Closing Date: 12 May | Apply Here

• Coach Inclusion & Diversity Coach | Brighton and Hove Albion | Closing Date: 13 May 2024 | Apply Here

• Audit & Advisory Senior Manager | FIFA (Miami) | Apply Here

• Partnership Marketing Manager | Chelsea | Apply Here

• Logistics Coordinator | The FA | Closing Date: 1 May | Apply Here

We’re a small start-up team that wants to grow women’s football. So please spread the word, forward this to someone who’d like it, and drop us an email. Tell us what you like, what sucks, or what we’re missing. 

Jo

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