UEFA Women's Champions League Final!

The UEFA Women's Champions League Final brought fans of European women's football to Kiyv ("Kiev," to most Americans) on Thursday, May 24th. German finalists Wolfsburg faced off against their French foes Olympique Lyonnais (which I always want to spell "Olympic Lyonnaise," which sounds like a condiment served to feline kings/queens of the jungle every four years in either the summer or the winter). 

Those who were able to make it to Ukraine for this match (or watch online) were given a treat. The final scoreline was 4-1 in favor of Lyon. But all of the goals came in an extra period added after the teams ended regulation with a 0-0 draw. 

It probably should have been 1-0 for Lyon during the first 90 minutes, but the goal in the video below (I think it's fully over the line) was not given, and the 0-0 scoreline persisted through the full 90 minutes.

Then, everything went crazy in the 30-minute extra period. Crazy exciting, that is.

Sarah Bouhaddi, who hadn't had very much to do in the first 90 minutes, found herself quickly under pressure on the restart. But she doesn't let anything get near the box, and friends and foes alike are fare game when she's going to punch the ball. Lucy Bronze found out the hard way that a collision with Bouhaddi isn't a recipe for an enjoyable afternoon.

Both players remained down for a stretch, and Bouhaddi said after the match that she thought she had broken her hand. She could be seen avoiding the use of her left arm for the duration of the extra time period, but her teammates stepped up to make sure the goals were all heading in the other goal. Well, most of them.

Yep, it's broken. She'll have surgery on Monday to fix a fracture of her 5th metacarpal. 

Wolfsburg's Pernile Harder grabbed the first goal in the 93rd minute, and suddenly Lyon's dominance in the run of play was at risk of failing to provide a reward.

But then, three short minutes later, Alex Popp was ejected after seeing her second yellow card of the match. The German side would have to play the rest of the 30 minutes with only 10 field players. That wasn't nearly enough.

Amandine Henry struck first to draw Lyon level, just two minutes after Popp's sending off. Before one could so much as tweet about the goal, Eugénie Le Sommer put Lyon ahead by one barely a minute after Henry's opener. Ada Hegerberg added a third in the 103rd minute, and Lyon's final substitute, Camille Abily, playing her last few minutes of her tremendous career, got herself open in the box to convert Shanice van de Sanden's perfect pull back cross for a storybook ending to the 4-1 result. Just look at this bending finish. What a way to retire.

Of note: that assist for van de Sanden was her third assist since coming on in the 95th minute. Talk about a super-sub!

What a match! Daniela Porcelli was at the game, and took over the Her.Pitch Instagram for her travels and through the match. Enjoy her gallery of all the game action!

Find Swiss photographer Daniela Porcelli on her Flickr pageInstagram pageTwitter or YouTube