Rose Lavelle ‘has no idea’ who will win the Women’s Champions League, but knows who she’s rooting for

• US Women’s National Team star Rose Lavelle has “no idea” who will win Saturday’s Champions League final.
• Reigning Spanish champions Barcelona and French powerhouses Lyon will square off for the biggest prize in Europe.
• Lavelle told Insider that she is rooting for her USWNT teammates Catarina Macario and Lindsey Horan in Lyon.

Two of the most fearsome dynasties in European football will meet this weekend in the highly anticipated final of the Women’s Champions League.

And while US Women’s National Team and OL Reign superstar Rose Lavelle “has no idea” whether reigning Spanish champions FC Barcelona or French powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais will take home the continent’s most coveted award, he is confident the game will be worth watching.

“Barcelona is sick, obviously, but Lyon have really good players too,” Lavelle told Insider. “So I don’t know. I think it’s going to be a good game. I’m very interested.”

Olympique Lyonnais, better known as Lyon, has long been the world class of women’s football. The club has attracted top-tier talent from around the world and as such has appeared in 10 Champions League finals and won seven titles in the last 13 years.

Lavelle is very familiar with some of the players on the Lyon side of the ball. Two of her USWNT teammates, Catarina Macario and Lindsey Horan, play midfield for the French team.

She’s not sure she can see it, so she’s “very sad” as Reign has a training session that conflicts with the game. But if she participates in part of the contest, she knows who she will support.

“It’s great,” Lavelle said. “If I get to see the full game, maybe I’ll watch it again, but I think it’ll be great to see Cat and Lindsey. I’ll be cheering them on.”

“I’m excited to see them,” she added. “I think I’m feeling some goals from the girls.”

Many other people are also excited to see them. Lyon’s last match, a 2–1 victory against Paris Saint-Germain, set an attendance record for a women’s club match with 43,255 fans at Le Parc des Princes.

And Barcelona, ​​a star-studded team in their own right, sold out each of their last two Champions League home games at Camp Nou. Barça set the world record with 91,553 people present to see the women’s club defeat Real Madrid 5-2 in the second leg of the quarter-final.

A month later, Barcelona broke their own record as 91,648 people packed the Camp Nou for the semi-final first leg against German side Wolfsburg. And now, an impressive 35,000 fans are expected to head to Turin for the grand final, with tens of thousands traveling to Italy from both teams’ home markets.

“When you invest in women’s sports, you’re going to get a good end product,” Lavelle said. “That’s what we’re starting to see around the world, not just here, but everywhere. It’s unbelievable. It’s great to see Barca fill their stadium game after game.”

“I hope I send a message and [sets] a precedent for everyone else that women’s sports, women’s soccer is here to stay,” she added. “Join it [and] invest because there is value and there is interest”.

The 2022 Women’s Champions League final kicks off on Saturday at 1 pm ET. Fans can watch the action unfold for free at DAZN YouTube Channel.