Frankfurt beat Bayern, Lyon in cup final
Monday, April 18, 2016
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With the semi-final first legs next Sunday, FFC Frankfurt and Wolfsburg gained valuable league wins while Lyon reached the French Cup final but Paris lost.
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Semi-finals (24 April & 1 May)
1 Lyon v Paris Saint-Germain
2 Wolfsburg v FFC Frankfurt (holders)
Final (18.00CET, 26 May, Stadio Città del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia)
Winner Semi-final 2 v Winner Semi-final 1
Lyon v Paris
Lyon remain on course for a tenth straight league title, leading Paris by three points with three games to go. They boosted their hopes on 3 April with a 1-0 win at fourth-placed Juvisy courtesy of Pauline Bremer. On Sunday, Lyon defeated Rodez 9-0 with a hat-trick from UEFA Women's Champions League and Division 1 Féminin top scorer Ada Hegerberg to reach the French Cup final, a fifth consecutive double still on the cards.
OL's opponents in Grenoble on 15 May will be Montpellier, who beat Paris 4-3 on penalties in Sunday's other semi-final. Paris had come back from 2-0 down with goals from substitutes Marie-Laure Delie and Anja Mittag to force the shoot-out. In the league, second-placed Paris won 4-0 at St-Étienne with two Delie goals on 3 April to stay in touch with the leaders and leave themselves two points from joining Lyon in confirming their European place for next season.
Wolfsburg v Frankfurt
Frankfurt ended leaders Bayern München's league-record 40-game unbeaten run, dating back to June 2014, with a 1-0 away win on Sunday thanks to a goal from Saskia Bartusiak. However, there was a blow for the European champions when Dzsenifer Marozsán limped off with a calf injury. Wolfsburg won 2-0 against Bayer Leverkusen with two Alex Popp goals just before half-time to move to within nine points of reigning champions Bayern and stay one ahead of Frankfurt with four matches left.
Both European opponents have Wednesday league games, Frankfurt hosting Freiburg and Wolfsburg visiting Essen. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, are already through to one final after beating Freiburg 2-1 thanks to Popp and Babett Peter in the German Cup last four a fortnight ago. In Cologne, on 21 May, Wolfsburg will play Sand, who came from behind for a 2-1 win against Bayern, who had not lost a competitive game since December 2014 but after Sunday now have two defeats in a row.
