Lindsey Heaps hoping for one last Women's Champions League hurrah with OL Lyonnes
by , UEFA.com · UEFA.com"I still remember holding onto the trophy on the aeroplane back to Lyon," says Lindsey Heaps, recalling her first UEFA Women's Champions League triumph with OL Lyonnes in 2021/22. Four years on, the American midfielder is now hoping to experience a second in her last European game with the club.
The French giants are due to face Barcelona in the Oslo final on Saturday 23 May, and for Heaps that offers the prospect of a perfect farewell before she returns to her native Colorado to join Denver Summit this summer. "These are the kinds of moments that you wake up and you play football for," she tells UEFA. "This is what I dreamed of when I was a little kid."
Build-up to the final
"I don't really like to think about my time ending at OL Lyonnes," she adds, "but the fact that we made it to this final was a little extra-special for me, as my last Champions League game will be a Champions League final, so I'm very thankful for that."
The United States women's national team captain first participated in the Women's Champions League earlier in her career with Paris Saint-Germain, then experienced immediate success on her return to France by lifting the trophy four months after joining OL Lyonnes in January 2022.
Having then started the 2024 final defeat against Barcelona, she is eager to go out on a high at Ullevaal Stadion. "It feels incredible to be going back to another Champions League final. It's a bit surreal and also a very proud moment because I think this team has been together throughout the entire season and all our goals and dreams were to make it here.
"Everything we did together – training, each meeting and the work that we put in – we wanted to remain winners but also be role models. Every time we won, we still could be better and we were never content with where we were.
"I think we've grown through the season as well and, even now, we keep growing, and that's hard to do throughout an entire season. It can be tiring and mentally draining, but we've stayed up there the entire time."
OL Lyonnes' journey to the final has not been straightforward, despite an almost perfect league phase in which they posted five wins and a draw in six games. Their only dropped points came in a dramatic 3-3 stalemate with Juventus, the eight-time champions battling back from three goals down after Wendie Renard converted a 90th-minute penalty.
They then went on to turn around first-leg deficits in both their quarter-final against Wolfsburg and semi-final with holders Arsenal. "We played against some really, really difficult teams and it was always about mentality," says Heaps. "The OL Lyonnes mentality is something else and you have to feel it when you're part of it.
"I think every individual felt it this year. We had some hard games and some losses. The road to this final was not easy, but we were able to come out on top because of that mentality shift, the football that we were able to play, our strengths and cleaning up things that maybe we didn't do as well in certain games."
This season's decider will be the fourth involving OL Lyonnes and Barcelona, and Heaps is looking forward to facing a formidable opponent appearing in their sixth consecutive showpiece.
"We have a lot of respect for a team that has been to many finals. We've met them in the final multiple times, so it'll be a great game. There are many key players at Barça and there are star players in this whole Barça-OL Lyonnes game. But the togetherness of the two teams is what makes it so special; it's what makes it such a great final, because you have two incredible teams facing each other, so the world will be watching."
The rivalry with Barcelona has evolved since their first meeting in the 2019 final, and although Heaps' side have won two of the three previous showpiece contests, Barcelona were triumphant in the most recent in 2024.
"For me, it's two really great women's football clubs that have made it to the top of this stage so many times, and that in itself is an incredible accomplishment. We have a lot of respect for them, but I'm sure they have a lot of respect for us too. Eight Champions League titles for this club is not easy to achieve as it's not easy to win this trophy, so I think respect goes both ways.
"I think it's going to be an absolutely wonderful game to an outsider. But as an insider, it's a fight, it's a battle and, hopefully, with some really good football being played."
Either way, it will be a poignant day for Heaps as her OL Lyonnes adventure draws to a close. "I have made some of the greatest memories of my career [here]. Winning the Champions League for the first time had been a dream of mine since I was a little kid watching it on television. So, when I think of that, it's like I want that moment back.
"It's such an incredible, legendary club, with so many winners and so much experience among the players and staff. I've been coached by three coaches here and I'm just so grateful for everything I've done here, for all the people I've met, the friendships I've made and the trophies I've won with this group of girls. And I'll do everything to help us accomplish more."
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