by Marc Roseblade

The ladies of Potsdam pulled off a victory in PK’s

It was the women’s chance to shine tonight in Madrid as FFC Turbine Potsdam faced off against Olympique Lyonnais in the inaugral final of the Womens Champions League 2010.

The Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in Getafe was a sell out and as part of the new UEFA initiative to promote football to a wider audience and part of the 8 day festival taking on the run up to the main event on Saturday evening.

The game was evenly matched and ended up nil nil at the end of play so had to be decided by penalties. A harsh way to win or lose such an important match but thats the rules and someone always has to win and someone has to lose.

Fatmire Bajramaj hoists the trophy

On this occasion it was the German side, Potsdam that ended as eventual winners, defeating the French 7-6 in the penalty shootout.

Potsdams’ teenage goalkeeper Anna Felicitas Sarholz ended up the goalkeeping hero as she saved 2 penalties and secured the victory after a hard fought 120 minutes of play. Ironically, she had saved 3 penalties in the semi final to help her team to progress to this final, a statistic that most managers of Europes top mens sides would wish that their overpaid goalkeepers could achieve from time to time.

The game may have ended goalless but the teams certainly weren’t toothless as Potsdam held their nerve to claim the European crown 2010.

Background on Women’s Champions leage:

• This competition has replaced the former UEFA Women’s Cup, which ran from 2001/02 until last season.

• This is the first women’s final to be played as a one-off match since the inaugural UEFA Women’s Cup showpiece, won by 1. FFC Frankfurt in the German city.

• All finals from now on will played two nights before the men’s UEFA Champions League decider, and in the same city.

• The other major change was that the eight top-ranked nations now have two competing teams in the competition, the title winners and runners-up. Both Lyon and Potsdam entered as national champions.

read more from Marc at www.myscottishfootball.blogspot.com