Wendie Renard calmly netted a late penalty as five-time defending champion Lyon beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, while Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea also won their Women's Champions League first-leg quarterfinal games on Wednesday.
The Lyon captain scored in the 86th minute at Parc des Princes, putting her team in position to advance at home next week as it seeks a sixth consecutive title and eighth overall.
“There are no fans so there's less pressure,” Renard said of playing in an empty stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Away goals are important. We were a little more aggressive and combative in the second half.”
Players of Chelsea celebrate after a goal scored by Samantha Kerr, center, during the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final soccer match Chelsea vs Vfl Wolfsburg in the Ferenc Szusza Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Zsolt SzigetvaryMTI via AP)
Pernille Harder scored against her former team as Chelsea beat Wolfsburg 2-1 in Hungary. The Denmark captain, who joined Chelsea in September, collected a pass from Sam Kerr and slotted the ball into the bottom corner in the 66th minute. Eleven minutes earlier, Kerr netted from a tight angle to open the scoring.
Wolfsburg, which won back-to-back titles in 2013 and ’14, secured an away goal when Dominique Janssen converted a penalty in the 70th minute. Both legs are being played in Budapest because of travel restrictions.
In the other matches, Barcelona beat Manchester City 3-0, and Bayern defeated Swedish club Rosengård by the same score.
Magdalena Eriksson of Chelsea, left, and Ewa Pajor of Wolfsburg, right, in action during the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final soccer match Chelsea vs Vfl Wolfsburg in the Ferenc Szusza Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (Zsolt SzigetvaryMTI via AP)
Barça will take a comfortable lead to Manchester thanks to goals from Asisat Oshoala, Mariona Caldentey and substitute Jennifer Hermoso.
Goalkeeper Sandra Paños denied City an away goal by saving Chloe Kelly's penalty in the 56th minute, shortly after Caldentey scored from the spot to make it 2-0. The match was played in Monza, Italy, because of travel restrictions.
In Munich, Bayern got first-half goals from Linda Dallmann and Klara Bühl. Lineth Beerensteyn added a third after the break.
The second-leg matches will be played next week. The final is scheduled for May 16 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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