LYON: Kadidiatou Diani scored one goal and set up two more as Lyon outclassed Bayern Munich 4-1 in the second leg of their Women’s Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The French powerhouse needed a wake-up call before reaching the semifinals for the 13th time. Klara Bühl opened the scoring in the 33rd minute off the far post to claw a goal back for Bayern after losing the first leg 2-0 in Munich.
Lyon, the eight-time champion, emerged reinvigorated after the break and went on to wrap up a 6-1 victory on aggregate with Diani scoring and setting up goals for Melchie Dumornay and Tabitha Chawinga, who both scored in Munich last week.
Dumornay played in Ada Hegerberg to seal the rout with a flourish by shooting the ball between Bayern goalkeeper Maria-Luisa “Mala” Grohs’ legs in stoppage time.
Bayern will be left to rue defensive blunders for undermining their comeback hopes.
Diani was given two opportunities to cross the ball for Dumornay to equalize on the night, then Bayern star Giulia Gwinn inadvertently set up Diani to score in the 54th.
It was the third blow for Bayern in quick succession with forward Jovana Damnjanovic going off with an apparent rib injury.
The fourth blow came shortly afterward with Diana crossing for Chawinga to score Lyon’s third goal on the hour-mark. The French league champion missed further chances to score before Hegerberg made the last one count.
Lyon will face either Real Madrid or Arsenal in the semifinals. They were contesting the second leg of their quarterfinal in London later, with the Spanish team 2-0 up from the first leg in Madrid last week.
Arsenal made a promising start without scoring while Madrid began threatening toward the end of the first half in the second leg.
The other quarterfinal second legs are scheduled for Thursday, with defending champion Barcelona in a comfortable position after a 4-1 win over Wolfsburg in Germany, and Chelsea needing goals as they host Manchester City after losing the first leg 2-0.
Barcelona defeated Lyon in last year’s final.
Lyon outclass Bayern with 4-1 win to reach Women’s Champions League semifinals
https://arab.news/jpec4
Lyon outclass Bayern with 4-1 win to reach Women’s Champions League semifinals
- Lyon, the eight-time champion, emerged reinvigorated after the break and went on to wrap up a 6-1 victory on aggregate
- Bayern will be left to rue defensive blunders for undermining their comeback hopes
Riyadh Marathon now part of Kingdom’s ‘social fabric,’ says Prince Khaled bin Al-Waleed bin Talal
- President of the Saudi Sports for All Federation spoke to Arab News ahead of 5th edition of the race on Saturday
DUBAi: As thousands of runners take part in the fifth edition of the Riyadh Marathon, no one will be prouder in the strides that the event has taken during that time than Prince Khaled bin Al-Waleed bin Talal.
The president of the Saudi Sports for All Federation, organizers of the race, has long championed marathon, as well as many other community sporting activities and competitions across the Kingdom.
“We’re on our fifth year, this is five years of increased participation from across Saudi,” he told Arab News as he prepared to join thousands of participants of Saturday. “Just this morning (Friday) I was tagged on social by a group of people flying in from Madinah to take part in the marathon. I love that we have people that come from all over the world for the marathon, but it really moves my heart when I am seeing people from all over the country make their way here to join us.”
Sports and wellness events like the marathon festival and the actual marathon itself, according to Prince Khaled, do so much “for community unity, for social fabric, for bringing together different cultures even within the Kingdom.”
Considering the sheer scope of the country’s landscape and the travel distances between cities, this is no small feat.
“As anyone would understand, Saudi is a massive landmass, and when you look at something as simple as different language habits and little social norms, you see them all coming together to intermingle for the marathon, and that brings us together even closer as a culture, as a country,” said Prince Khaled. “The SFA is proud to be the vehicle of unity and pride and togetherness for Saudi; there’s nothing like the feeling of seeing us all moving en masse with energy and excitement.
“We are supposed to be the body developing and strengthening Saudi community infrastructure, associations, and cultivating and creating resources that allow for a Saudi Arabia that doesn’t stop moving,” he added.
“The SFA sees our Saudi leadership as a catalyst for this all; we are so fortunate to have King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushing for a health-centric citizenry and society.”
The success of the past four editions has raised the profile of the Riyadh Marathon in double quick time; it is no longer the novelty it was five years ago, but a highlight of the sporting calendar.
“Saudi now has the marathon baked into its social fabric, the country’s leadership has transformed the country from even a infrastructural perspective to make Saudi a wellness nation — today, and for the past four years of the Riyadh Marathon,” Prince Khaled said.
“When we see people all over social media asking for registration to reopen after we cleared 50,000, we knew the change has reached all level of society. The change is a marked shift towards physical activity being a main driver of entertainment and excitement in the Kingdom, alongside, of course, all of the physical benefits, healthwise.”
A sign of the importance of the race can be seen in a the list of partners that has grown year on year, including the Ministry of Sport, Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Saudi Athletics Federation, National Events Center, Riyadh Municipality, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh Metro, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the Saudi Tourism Authority.
It is also sponsored by Alawwal Bank, Asics and Red Bull, among many other local and international names.
“I don’t want to tell you who just yet, but there’s a few ministers and vice ministers signed up to run,” said Prince Khaled.
“How cool is this? How engaged are our ministers that they have planned to join our people in this public expression of what it means to be Saudi in 2026. These are the people that are one with us, and lead with health and unity as an example. Look out for them during the 5 and 10 km, and two during the 21 km, but that’s all the hints I am giving as to which ministers are signed up to participate. It makes me really proud as president of SFA, and as a Saudi on a personal level.
“I also want to highlight our own Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who is always laser-focused on the success of the Riyadh Marathon, and SFA’s activations in general,” he added.
“Vision 2030 set a goal of increasing the national level of physical activity from 13 percent to 40 percent by the end of the decade. We have far exceeded that goal, with physical activity levels already reaching 60 percent.”
