Rut Vilar watched as Barcelona and OL Lyonnes played the Women's Champions League final at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo on May 24, 2025, a match scheduled to kick off at 5pm BST.
This was a record‑equalling fourth final between the two clubs — OL Lyonnes have won two of the previous three meetings and lifted the competition eight times overall, last doing so in 2022 — while Barcelona came into the game unbeaten in the tournament and aiming for a fourth title in their sixth successive final appearance. The sides finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the League Phase, and their paths to Oslo included Barcelona’s 10-2 quarterfinal win over Real Madrid and a 4-2 aggregate victory against Bayern Munich in the semifinals; OL Lyonnes needed extra time to overcome Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals and scored a last‑gasp winner in the semifinal second leg against Arsenal.
Barcelona named Cata Coll, Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Brugts, Serrajordi, Guijarro, Alexia Putellas, Graham Hansen, Pajor and Parralluelo. OL Lyonnes lined up with Endler, Lawrence, Renard, Engen, Bacha, Dumoray, Heaps, Yohannes, Becho, Hegerberg and Brand. Vicky Lopez, who was part of Barcelona squads that won the Champions League in 2022-23 and 2023-24, started on the bench.
Outside the tactical battle there was a human subplot that shaped the pre‑match mood. Putellas, 32, is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with clubs in the WSL and NWSL; teammates and observers treated Oslo as the most likely last Champions League final in which she will wear the Barcelona shirt. Jonatan Giraldez — now managing OL Lyonnes — added an extra layer of narrative: he previously led Barcelona to three UWCL titles, and now stands across from his former players in a final between familiar rivals.
The tension was not just sentimental. Barcelona arrived unbeaten and with the weight of six straight final appearances; OL Lyonnes carried the history of eight titles and the resilience of a side that had required extra time and a last‑minute playoff to reach Oslo. That mix — a dominant incumbent chasing a fourth crown and a storied challenger seeking a ninth — turned a club fixture into an event with both legacy and immediate stakes.
On the question of Putellas’s future, Rut Vilar made the matter blunt: "It will likely be the last final of Alexia wearing the Barcelona Jersey, so it’s a big final and it also this makes it even more emotional for us" and, on where Putellas goes next, "I’m not sure she knows what she wants to do, I think there is a 70% chance that she leaves." Those comments framed the match not merely as a contest for a trophy but as a probable farewell scene for one of Barcelona’s defining players.
This felt like more than a single night at Ullevaal Stadion. For Barcelona it was another stop on a run that has produced three Champions League titles and six consecutive finals; for OL Lyonnes it was another attempt to add to an 11‑title collection across European competition and reclaim the trophy they last lifted in 2022. For Putellas, the final in Oslo was, by her teammate’s count and by the contract facts around her, very likely her last chance to lift the Champions League wearing Barcelona colors.
