Arsenal’s STUNNING comeback vs. OL Lyonnes in the Women’s Champions League semis | UWCL on Disney+

Ahead of Arsenal’s opening Champions League game against OL Lyonnes, rewatch their clash from last season’s semifinals.

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It is the achievement of a generation. The victory of a lifetime -- for now, certainly -- and a success that will help these incredible Arsenal players dream of more and want more.

The London club is back at the top of Mount Europe, 18 years after their last (and only) final back in 2007. They beat the previously invincible Lyon 4-1 on Sunday -- a feat that no other team had been able to achieve this season. And they did it in France, on Lyon's turf, after losing the first leg 2-1 in London last week.

It is fair to say that, outside of the Arsenal dressing room, not many believed going through to the UEFA Women's Champions League final was possible. Surely no one, even within their own dressing room, believed they could humiliate the French champions the way they did on Sunday. It was the first time since 2009 that Lyon lost a Champions League semifinal; and it was the first time Lyon conceded four goals in a knockout game. Ever. Arsenal's achievement puts them in rarified air.

On May 24, the Gunners will have one more step to climb; the hardest one of all, against Barcelona in the final in Lisbon. But they showed on Sunday that anything was possible with the right belief and the right recipe. There will be plenty of time until the final for head coach Renée Slegers and her squad to plan about how to beat Aitana Bonmatí & Co. For now, it is all about enjoying this incredible moment and celebrating a perfect performance.

It was a perfect day indeed. One of the greatest ever for the club. From wherever they were watching this game, Vic Akers, Alex Scott, Kelly Smith or Emma Byrne -- some of the legends of 2007 and their incredible unbeaten quadruple (Champions League, league, FA Cup, League Cup) -- will look at their successors with pride and tears in their eyes. Tears like the ones we saw dripping down the cheeks of Kim Little, the captain fantastic, as soon as the referee blew the final whistle.

Little, 34, epitomised Arsenal's performance. She was outstanding in her game intelligence and efforts. To go through for Arsenal, it was all going to be about the right attitude and the right game plan. It was all there. The team was perfectly drilled tactically, compact, never too deep, never too high, doubling up on the dangerous Lyon wingers. Most importantly, Arsenal were aggressive. Not once over the 90 minutes did they allow their opponents to have time on the ball.

After the first leg, the Londoners were impressed by the physicality of the Lyon players. They had to match it to have a chance of qualifying. They did just that. They won the most tackles, had more interceptions, won almost as many duels and prevented Lyon from finding their wide players easily, and forced the hosts to make mistakes (resulting directly in two goals).

"They just had a better game plan than us," Lyon centre-back Vanessa Gilles said after the game. "They did more in their desire, intensity and movement and deserve to win."

Slegers' tactical plan, which will have to be repeated against Barcelona, was spot on: keeping the ball and forcing Lyon to run after it. Don't be too vertical in the play, take your time. By doing so, Arsenal controlled the tempo of the game and took away a lot of the intensity Lyon usually put in their performances.

For the first time at home this season, Lyon lost the possession game (45% to 55%) and never got a grip on the match. The decision by manager (and ex-Arsenal boss) Joe Montemurro to change the starting XI that won the first leg by adding a forward (Ada Hegerberg) for a midfielder (Daniëlle van de Donk) was a poor one, and backfired massively as Arsenal won the midfield battle comfortably.

Slegers' genius idea in the last few weeks was to reposition Mariona Caldentey into a deeper, more central role in midfield alongside Little. The Spain international scored a superb goal just before the break and bossed the game alongside Little. Slegers, only 36 years old, has done wonders for this Arsenal team since taking over Jonas Eidevall, first as interim manager in October and then permanently.

Beyond the quite incredible symmetry with Arsenal's men's side (beating Real Madrid in the quarters, a French club in the semis, and potentially facing Barcelona the final), Slegers has taken her team to a new level. Together on Sunday, they wrote a new chapter in Arsenal's illustrious history.

But the story is not over just yet.


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