A mixed feeling for Janice Cayman tomorrow. Her club and defending champion Lyon will not be in the Champions League final this year. “Then I hope Wolfsburg beats Barcelona,” she says. And the Red Flame has a good reason for that.
“No two without three” turns out not always to be true. Janice Cayman won 2 Champions League titles in 3 years with Lyon, but will not add a third in her last season in France.
The end station for outgoing winner Lyon was already the quarter final against Chelsea this year. “The elimination was a bit undeserved. In the return match we deserved more”, Cayman looks back.
“It’s a pity too, because a Champions League final is such an incredibly beautiful and prestigious match. Last year’s victory is the best of my career,” she continues full of nostalgia.
I estimate the odds 60/40 for Barcelona.
But the candidates for this year’s final win also know that a Champions League final is a prestige blow. Barcelona won the championship ball in 2021 and lost the final to Cayman & co last year. Wolfsburg has already raised the cup twice. So there is no lack of experience.
“It will be a very interesting duel”, Cayman looks ahead. “Barcelona are of course favourites, but Wolfsburg are a very crafty and disciplined team. I would say the odds are 60/40 for Barcelona,” she said.
“Barça will play full on the attack. They always do. With Putellas and Bonmati they also have the qualities for that. Bonmati is the best player in the world for me.”
According to Cayman, Wolfsburg should rely more on the counterattack. “Alexandra Popp will take her team in tow. She wins a lot of duels and is strong in the head.”
At 25, Aitana Bonmati is already one of the best players in the world.
But the fact that the record international of the Red Flames tips Barcelona as a favorite does not mean that she also hopes that the Catalans will win the cup today.
On the contrary. “I will be in the stadium on Saturday. I will scream loudly for Wolfsburg. I really hope they win the final,” she says.
Why then?
“My girlfriend plays at Wolfsburg,” says Cayman. The Antwerp is together with goalkeeper Lisa Weiss, with whom she played together at Lyon in the 2019-2020 season.
“Lisa will play the last game of her career on Saturday. How nice would it be if she could close it with a Champions League win,” says Cayman emotionally.
Although it would also be nice for Weiss if she could play on Saturday, because she is not the regular goalkeeper at Wolfsburg.
Lisa Weiss, still a goalkeeper at Lyon in 2020 and girlfriend of Cayman.
Breaking records
The Red Flame will certainly not only have to shout in Eindhoven. For the first time in the history of the Women’s Champions League, the stadium is completely sold out for the final. The PSV stadium can hold 34,120 fans.
“Phenomenal. We are breaking records more and more often,” says Cayman. “Especially after last summer’s European Championship, we are on the rise. People who start watching one of our matches often continue to watch.”
Those who switch on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the final are therefore warned of a new addiction. And if Wolfsburg wins, there will eventually be 3 Champions League medals hanging at the Cayman house.
Then “no two without three”?
2023-06-03 08:30:41
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