Lyon Women’s coach Sonia Bompastor laments Chelsea penalty in Champions League exit: “VAR was fooled.”

Holders Lyon have crashed out of the Women’s Champions League at the quarter-final stage. Les Fenottes were eliminated by Chelsea after a tense penalty shootout on Thursday night, having initially overturned their first-leg deficit. OL were 2-0 up and virtually on the verge on the edge of booking their place for the tournament’s semi-finals but, in the dying minutes of extra-time, Chelsea were given a penalty following a slight contact between Lauren James and Vicki Becho. Maren Mjelde converted from the spot to give her side a lifeline.

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OL Women’s coach Sonia Bompastor was distraught and frustrated after her side’s exit from the Champions League. The former France international singled out the refereeing decision that gave the Blues a controversial 124th-minute penalty after a VAR review. “I watched the footage back, and the referee first made the right decision [not to give a penalty]”, assessed Bompastor in her post-game press conference that L’Equipe attended. “Then, VAR asked her to review the situation. VAR was fooled on that one.”

Bompastor adds she was nevertheless proud of the efforts shown by Les Fenottes, who overturned their one-goal deficit thanks to strikes from Vanessa Gilles and Sara Däbritz. Unfortunately for Lyon, skipper Wendie Renard and Lindsey Horan missed their spotkicks in the shoot-out.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval