Paris to Clash with Frankfurt in the Final of UEFA Women’s Champions League

Women footballers of Paris Saint Germain made history by qualifying for their first UEFA Women’s Champions League final. The victory for Paris did not come easy as they played against formidable opponents, who were heavy favorites to win the UEFA Champions League for the third successive year. In the first-leg semifinal played in AOK stadium at Wolfsburg on April 18, Paris had stunned the reigning champions 2-0 and in the second leg they lost 1-2 in Paris on Sunday April 26, 2015. But PSG scraped through with a 3-2 aggregate to earn the right to play the final in Berlin on May 14 against another heavyweight 1. FFC Frankfurt. The Frankfurt team had the easiest of passages in the final as they followed their 7-0 rout of Denmark’s Brondby IF with another stellar performance in the second leg on Saturday April 26. The 6-0 second leg semifinal victory drove the aggregate to an astounding 13-0 as the three-time winners will take on PSG for their fourth victory in the UEFA Champions League for women.

In the second-leg semifinal between PSG and VfL Wolfsburg last Sunday, Wolfsburg needed a fast start to nullify the first leg’s two goal deficit at the earliest. Yuki Ogimi came close as she was on the goal mouth in the opening minutes, when she received a promising cross but failed to convert. Wolfsburg’s hopes of making it to the final suffered an early blow, when PSG’s Aurelie Kaci weaved her way into the goal area and blasted a shot past Wolfsburg goalkeeper Almuth Schult. Kaci thus enhanced her team’s advantage to 3-0 after they had defeated Wolfsburg 2-0 in the first leg in the away game at Wolfsburg on April 18, 2015. After this 6th minute goal from Aurelie Kaci, Wolfsburg attacked but failed to change the score-line until the halftime.

Wolfsburg continued to keep the pressure in the second half and scored two goals despite solid defense by PSG and brilliant goalkeeping by Katarzyna Kiedrzynek. In the 71st minute, however, substitute Martina Muller expertly diverted a shot from Verena Faisst into the goal to make it 1-1. Three minutes later, Muller became a provider to set up Jakabfi, who made no mistake in firing past PSG goalkeeper Kiedrzynek and Wolfsburg moved 2-1 ahead. But the reigning champions needed one more goal to move into the final and time was running out. Therefore they launched a furious attack on PSG in the remaining time but PSG held their nerves and denied the pleasure to the defending champions. As the match ended 2-1 in favor of Wolfsburg, the victory turned into defeat on aggregates for PSG and there were wild celebrations inside the Stade Charlety. It is the first time that PSG have entered the finals and if they could win the title in Berlin, they would become only the second French side to lay their claim on the UEFA champions trophy after Olympique Lyonnais, who have won UEFA Champions League on two occasions.

In the other second-leg semifinal, FFC Frankfurt continued their dominance over Brondby IF and beat the Danish outfit 6-0 after their 7-0 first-leg semifinal win on April 19. Celia Sasic was once again in great touch as she scored a hat-trick for her team. Besides Sasic, Veronica Boquete also scored a hat-trick as the hapless Brondby were on the receiving end of a merciless barrage from the German club for the second time in just one week. On Saturday, riding on their 7-0 first-leg advantage, Frankfurt were 5-0 at halftime with two goals from Boquete and three from Sasic. After halftime, the push continued from Frankfurt but Boquete’s third goal came, when six minutes were left from the final whistle and it was Sasic, who provided the assist. 13-0 on aggregates was a score that has never come in the history of women’s UEFA league semifinals.