Bilbao (Spain) (AFP)

In France as in Europe, the women's section of Olympique Lyonnais has built its hegemony by early professionalizing historical foundations, geared towards training and reinforced by the recruitment of the best French and foreign players.

Focus on OL's strengths, before the Champions League quarter-final on Saturday against Bayern Munich.

. A historic commitment

Before women's OL, there was FC Lyon, which was an institution of women's football four times champion of France (1991, 1993, 1995, 1998). This club had already formed sports sections in colleges in eastern Lyon, in Vaulx-en-Velin and in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon (where the club which still exists is located).

OL recovered the sports rights in 2004 at the instigation of politician Thierry Braillard, who encouraged Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas to invest in women's football.

At the time of the merger, FC Lyon coach Farid Benstiti was retained. This former professional OL player, D2 champion in 1989, currently manages the OL Reign team, a subsidiary of Olympique Lyonnais playing in the American championship.

. High means

If the late Louis Nicollin was a pioneer in Montpellier, Aulas has gone much higher with Lyon, positioning itself as a precursor of professionalism. He managed to allow his players to train daily and think only of football, a rarity.

"There is a real strategy to give the conditions for women's football to develop and not only financial but also material, infrastructure, staff, medical. These are conditions that are at the height of a small professional club in Ligue 2 in France ", explains to AFP Olivier Blanc, head of the women's section of OL.

According to this Aulas faithful, "we give the conditions to the players to evolve like pros and this since 2004. There has been an evolution each year to optimize all conditions and in all areas".

Financially, OL is a juggernaut with its annual budget of 7 to 8 million euros, consolidated each year by the Champions League endowment of which it crunches the largest part.

This helps attract players like the Norwegian Ada Hegerberg who receive the equivalent of an average salary in Ligue 1, or around 45,000 euros per month. Captain Wendie Renard and Amandine Henry, with around 30,000 euros excluding advertising revenue, are among the best paid in the world.

. Well-trained young people and stars

In Lyon, training has made the reputation of the club among boys and girls, who have the same high-level facilities with "the Academy" in Meyzieu. Likewise, for the gala matches, the women's team plays in the Grand Stade where the club does everything to attract crowds, with an attendance having already exceeded 25,000 spectators.

In addition to its young nuggets, such as currently side Selma Bacha (19) or striker Melvine Malard (20), OL have always sought to recruit the best of France, which has regularly given them France bis team tunes. This summer again, the team was reinforced with the left side Sakina Karchaoui, international of 24 years (33 selections) arrived from Montpellier.

At the same time, Aulas paid for luxury foreign recruits, as in 2005 with the famous goalkeeper Hope Solo who came with other American internationals, starting with Aly Wagner. Always on the side of the United States, there was also the passage of Alex Morgan (2017) and that of Megan Rapinoe (2013/14), not always titular.

The current squad includes a panel of international stars such as the Englishwoman Lucy Bronze, who however told the BBC that she was leaving the club, the German Dzsenifer Marozsan and the Norwegian Ada Hegerberg, the first female Ballon d'Or in 2018.

© 2020 AFP