Matildas Abroad Preview: Lyon look to lift 9th UWCL trophy; FC Nordsjælland three games away from title

FC Nordsjælland continue their battle for the Elitedivisionen title, while the NWSL and Damallsvenskan enter midseason. Ellie Carpenter's Lyon will be looking to claim their 9th UEFA Women's Champions League title when they take on Barcelona in the final on Sunday morning (2am AEST). 

Read our preview of the Matildas Abroad action below.

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UWCL

Kicking off in the UEFA Women's Champions League, Ellie Carpenter's Olympique Lyonnais will be looking to lift their 9th European title when they take on the defending champions, FC Barcelona, in the final in Bilbao on Sunday morning (2am AEST).

The last meeting between the two sides in a final happened in the 2021/22 season, where Carpenter's Lyon won 3-1 with goals to Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg & Catarina Macario, with Hegerberg the only player remaining at Lyon who found the back of the net that day. 

Melchie Dumornay celebrates with teammates during the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final leg 1 of 2 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France, on April 20, 2024. (Photo by Olivier CHASSIGNOLE / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE/AFP via Getty Images)

Lyon's last visit to the final ended in glory, despite Carpenter not being able to play most of the match due to suffering an ACL injury in the early stages of the game, the French side did not appear in the 2022/23 final. 

The game will be live and free to watch on DAZN's YouTube Channel, kicking off on Sunday morning at 2am AEST.

Sweden

BK Häcken has a huge game on Saturday, taking on Hammarby at 9pm AEST. Hammarby were the side that pipped them to the post in a dramatic league finish last season. This time around, after seven games, Hammarby sit in second while Häcken are third. Aivi Luik will be unavailable for Häcken through injury.

Kristianstads DFF travel to take on Brommapojkarna on Saturday, 9pm AEST. Kristianstads currently sit in fourth place, with five wins from seven, while Brommapojkarna is four points below in seventh. Amy Sayer is unavailable as she recovers from her ACL injury, while Clare Polkinghorne is expected to start at centre-back for Kristianstads.

United States

San Diego Wave played out a scoreless draw with Angel City on Friday (AEST). It was a relatively even game with plenty of chances on either side, but neither was able to break the deadlock. Emily van Egmond came off the bench in the 74th minute and went close to finding the match-winner late in the game from a corner while Kaitlyn Torpey was an unused substitute for the Wave.

You can catch up on the NWSL on Optus Sport.

Spain

Real Madrid take on Sociedad on Monday, 12.30am AEST. Madrid are guaranteed to finish in second place with three games to go, but will be playing for pride and to prepare themselves for next season. Hayley Raso has been regularly coming off the bench and will expect to do so again on the weekend.

Denmark

FC Nordsjælland continue their battle for the Elitedivisionen title, taking on Fortuna Hjørring on Saturday, 11.30pm AEST. They currently are on top of the table by two points with three league games remaining, while their opponents sit in fourth, and must win to remain in championship contention. Winonah Heatley is expected to start for Nordsjælland.

Winonah Heatley of FC Nordsjælland, celebrates her goal against Naestved HG during the Danish Women's Cup semi-final second leg. (Photo: FC Nordsjælland)