Lotta Schelin reflects on iconic UEFA Women's Champions League moment and predicts 2023 final

When UEFA announced their #QueensofFootball campaign, celebrating the icons who have made their mark on the UEFA Women’s Champions League, it was no question that Lotta Schelin would make the list.

One of the great strikers of her generation, Schelin, who retired from club football in 2018, has as many trophies to her name as seasons she played in the top flight: 19. The silverware includes eight successive top-flight titles with Olympique Lyonnais as well as three UEFA Women’s Champions Leagues with the French club. 

Schelin has an array of moments on the football pitch that have defined her status as an icon of the game, so much so that it’s overwhelming. But for her, the greatest moment of her UWCL career was an easy choice: her nine-minute brace against Arsenal in the first leg of the 2010/11 semi-finals.

"It wasn't that hard to find my moment," she exclusively tells 90min. "For me, it was so special because it was the biggest crowd – 20,000, at home, at [the Stade de] Gerland. We'd say that Gerland was like our garden. It was our place.

"We played Arsenal. In the crowd, everyone was cheering for us. It was sunny, it was nice. And I scored both of the goals and we won 2-0."

Back on that April day in 2011, Lyon wasted no time in making Arsenal feel like it was an unmatched tie from the get-go. The second minute saw Camille Abily put Schelin through on goal on the left, with the striker calmly putting the ball past keeper Emma Byrne. In what looked like a carbon copy of the first, the Swede performed a similar move minutes later, this time assisted by Louisa Necib, to double Lyon's lead.

“For me, it was really special with the home crowd and everything. And just like scoring against Arsenal. Both of the goals being exactly the same. It was like a lucky area [for me] to move around. It was just like a really nice memory."

Lyon went on to win the entire tournament that year, and two more while Schelin was at the club. While the French side have seemingly become synonymous with the UEFA Women’s Champions League as record eight-times winners, it was a club in her home country of Sweden that inspired her to chase European aspirations. 

"We had Umeå IK. The best team in Sweden, of course, but also one of the best teams in Europe. They were winning a lot," Schelin says, referring to the Swedish club that won the trophy twice (2003 and 2004), and reached the final three other times (2002, 2007, and 2008). 

"They just showed the way. They made the path for us afterwards to come and to be able to play the football that we wanted to. And they were really our idols.

"I feel like when they played and they won, they showed me that it was possible. So for me, when Olympique Lyonnais called me in 2008, the only thing I heard was, 'We want to win the UEFA Women’s Champions League'. For me, it was like 'Wow, like Umeå?' Their reign, all these years of them being on the top, it showed us that it was possible and I really took that on and felt like 'Okay, maybe I can do this with Lyon'."

Umeå IK took part in the very first edition of the women's football UEFA European club competition. More than two decades on, Barcelona will take on Wolfsburg in a sold-out final on June 3 at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, a match that Schelin thinks is '50/50'.

"When Barcelona played against Olympique Lyonnais [in the 2022 final], you could really see that there was a lack of experience. And I think that Barcelona showed that to Chelsea two years ago [in the 2021 final] that they had this experience. 

"But they have to understand that it's a new game and for Wolfsburg, it's the same. They have all this experience too. So even if we talk about Barcelona [as favourites], Wolfsburg has a big team, and they are hard to beat.

"Mentally is where it's won or lost. The Germans, they are strong. Always. I feel like it's a 50/50 game. But Barcelona, they just have to play like it's an everyday game, like they always do, and not be scared of the moment."

Wolfsburg have been dubbed by the majority as the underdogs. The German side haven't made it to the final of the UWCL since 2013/14, while this upcoming clash will be Barcelona's fourth final in five years. The She Wolves also haven't been as dominant domestically this season, missing out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich on the last day. Barça, on the other hand, finished Liga F in first, 10 points ahead of second-place Real Madrid. Schelin believes however, that they would love to take the underdog label in stride to help fuel them to a victory.

"Exactly like Lyon last year. Lyon got energy from seeing [the underdog narrative]. It was like 'Wow, they are talking about us like we don't stand a chance'. And they just knew that they did. So it's going to be the same for Wolfsburg. 

"It's only one game. Everything can happen in one game, that's for sure. And they have all these good players, oh my god, Svenja Huth! And [Alexandra] Popp, you know? They have so much experience and they're not going to be frightened by this final."

When Alexia Putellas injured her ACL last summer while training with Spain ahead of Euro 2022, many Barça fans feared that their dominance would be threatened given her cruciality to the team. But the levels of the team haven't dropped in her absence, something that is down to the team sticking to a specific style of play under Jonatan Giráldez. 

"She was the engine in the team. So she was missed, for sure. But that's the amazing thing with these kinds of clubs with these kinds of teams. If someone, even the best, gets injured someone else [comes in] and it's not that big of a difference.

"Like [Aitana] Bonmatí, for example, she's doing extra, and she knows that, 'Okay, I have to buckle up and do something a little bit more' because there's a hole after Putellas. The team is really functioning because they have this way of playing and it's not going to be totally changed just because of Putellas. That's the beauty of it."

The good news for football fans is that the upcoming final will only be the start of a summer filled with the sport as the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand fast approaches. The tournament will be the first one to feature an expanded format of 32 teams.

"I'm really excited. I'm gonna go down and watch some games" says Schelin.

"It's a huge stage for the players and there's a lot of teams now. So I just feel like you can't predict it."

All eyes will be on the powerhouses – the United States will be hoping to defend their title despite being in a transition period, England will want to capitalise off their Euros win last summer, and Australia will anticipate the home crowd can give them a boost.

Schelin, however, who holds the record for being the top goalscorer in the history of Sweden with 85 goals, has her hopes firmly set on her home nation. Sweden has historically been dubbed as one of the world's best in advocating for their national women's team and league, but have struggled to continue in the upward trend of momentum they had in the early 2000s. 

"The Swedish team is a great team. And you can see that individually, of course, but our strength is always the group mentality and what we can do together. Everything is possible. They can win against every team. And they've been showing that for a while now.

"The Euros [semi-final loss to England] wasn't like a fall of the women's game in Sweden; it was just an example of how sometimes it doesn't really work. The game didn't work. England were amazing. They had the same starting XI every game. They just had it. It was their competition. They had it all for that competition. And Sweden didn't have that.

"But Sweden have a good team. They have a good coach. But everything has to be in a good place." 

As the women's game continues to grow in Sweden, Schelin is hopeful that organisations at the top continue to advocate for more opportunities and funding to push forward the momentum. 

"When the national team starts to get equal pay and bonuses, and we start to reach that goal, everything's going to go down to the grassroots in Sweden. I hear, even today, we don't have academies for girls. And that's [seen as] normal, because we develop later, we start later. But we have to start providing these opportunities for the young girls, because we have so much talent and so many players wanting to put everything into being a professional. 

"It's important to start from the top. Starting with UEFA, starting with FIFA, pushing them to take this step to start to be equal in their way of seeing the game. I think that's going to be a huge difference for the whole world of football including all these countries where girls are not even allowed to play football. With putting in effort, putting in money, and putting everything into the professional’s women's game, I think that we're gonna be able to lift these girls in these countries too," she adds. 

"We have a lot to do, but I do believe the easiest way is to start with FIFA and to keep on keep on pushing from the federations. And then it's going to be easier and easier to change people's minds or how they see and how they look at the game and what football is. It's for everyone."

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