Women’s Worldwide Round-Up: successful road trips for top Feminine Division 1 clubs
In this weeks Women’s Worldwide Round-Up Martin Whiteley highlights all the goings on across the women’s French and Spanish leagues.
Lyon v Marseille
Captain Wendie Renard and Dzsenifer Marozsán both scored a brace as leaders Lyon made it 15 league games unbeaten to move to 41 points after they inflicted an 8-0 loss on second from bottom side Marseille.
Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, and Nikita Parris were all named in the starting line-up for the visitors. The latter with the fourth Lyon goal just after the hour mark. The defeat for the hosts saw their losing league run reach double figures to keep them on six points.
PSG v Soyaux
Playing in the final game of the round second-place PSG headed home with another three points in their pocket after they secured a 3-0 victory against Soyaux. A brace of goals just before the interval gave PSG added insurance after an early strike from Nadia Nadim had put them in front.
Since their loss to the leaders back in November PSG are now on a run of six league games unbeaten — the last four wins — to remain three points behind Lyon.
Bordeaux v Fleury 91
Third in the table Bordeaux advanced to 34 points after they stretched their unbeaten streak to eight league games with a 2-0 win against Fleury 91.
During their current run, the visitors have claimed maximum points in seven of those matches. The reversal for Fleury was their fourth in a row in league play to leave them on 14 points.
Montpellier v Reims
Montpellier stayed four points behind Bordeaux after a visit to Reims saw them claim a 7-1 victory. A dominant first-half performance saw the visitors take a 5-0 advantage into the interval.
Feminine Division 1 action takes a break next weekend as the Coupe de France Féminine quarter-final games are played.
Inaugural Supercopa Femenina goes the way of Barcelona
In December 2019 it was announced that a women’s version of the Spanish Super Cup would take place for the first time in 2020.
Incorporating the new format introduced to the men’s event this time around four teams would feature in the competition with two semi-finals and a final.
The competing sides would be the two finalists from the 2018–19 Copa de la Reina, along with the two highest-placed Primera División Femenina teams that had not reached the cup final.
The cup qualifiers were winners Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid. As Atlético had also claimed the title the allocated league places went to second-place finishers Barcelona and third in the table Levante.
On 10th January, the Spanish Football Federation announced that all the matches would take place at the Helmántico Stadium in Salamanca.
The draw six days later saw Real Sociedad paired with Levante and Atlético Madrid up against Barcelona.
The two league games this season between Real Sociedad and Levante had resulted in a goalless draw and a 3-0 victory for Levante.
On this occasion, in the first semi-final it was Real Sociedad who secured a spot in the final thanks to a single first-half goal from Leire Baños.
The Semi Final – Barcelona v Atlético Madrid
The second semi-final was a far more free-scoring contest as Barcelona edged out Atlético Madrid by the odd goal in five. Toni Duggan started for the first time since she returned from injury and made an instant impact as she fired Atlético into a fourth-minute lead.
Barcelona replied eight minutes later through Patri Guijarro. A further brace from Lieke Martens and Asisat Oshoala put the side from Catalonia in control at the break. Charlyn Corral reduced the deficit for Atlético just past the hour mark, but Barcelona was able to see time out to book their place in the final.
The Final – Barcelona v Real Sociedad
As tight as their semi-final was Barcelona totally dominated the final against Real Sociedad running out 10-1 winners.
The league leaders were two goals ahead in the first 10 minutes and by half-time their advantage had stretched out to 6-0.
Marta added to her first-half brace with further strikes in the second half to give her four goals in the game. Alexia and Oshoala also netted braces for Barcelona.
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The Offside Rule 
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