Women's Champions League semi-final first legs showcase

The first legs of the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals provided drama and plenty of twists and turns as Bayern München drew 1-1 with Barcelona and Arsenal came from behind to beat OL Lyonnes 2-1.

In this piece presented by Disney+, we take a look back at four of the key moments across the two games.

Pajor moves level with Russo

The race to finish as top scorer in this season's competition is proving to be a fascinating subplot, and the ever-prolific Ewa Pajor moved level with Arsenal's Alessia Russo on eight goals with a fine poacher's finish to open the scoring in her Barcelona side's draw with Bayern.

Pajor (who was top scorer in the 2022/23 season with nine goals) displayed intelligent movement to cut across her marker in the box and volley in from Esmee Brugts' pinpoint cross.

The Polish forward, however, was focused purely on the team rather than her individual goals after the game: "We have so much quality in our team, and we know if we stick to our style of play [in the second leg] we can reach the final," she said.

Bayern's fantastic flowing move

Barcelona were looking rampant after that early Pajor goal, but Bayern battled back and got their reward with a brilliant equaliser in the 70th minute in front of a record crowd of 31,000 at Fußball Arena München.

Vanessa Gilles started the move from the back, with Klara Bühl and Franziska Kett getting involved with some lovely one-touch football to play in Pernille Harder down the left, whose cross was converted with a delightful lofted effort from Kett to level.

It was a sublime team move, and one which was clearly appreciated by captain Glódís Viggósdóttir, who told UEFA: "We followed the game plan, we closed the spaces that we wanted to close and then we wanted to get them on the counter, and obviously it's a fantastic goal from start to finish."

On-Brand strike

OL Lyonnes forward Jule Brand has scored some spectacular goals over the years, and she added another fine strike to her collection to put her team 1-0 up against Arsenal in London.

Picking the ball up from Lily Yohannes' pass, the Germany international drove at the Gunners defence before showing neat footwork to cut inside and slam a shot beyond Daphne van Domselaar.

Her opener means Brand has now scored multiple Women's Champions League goals for three different teams: Hoffenheim (3), Wolfsburg (3), and OL (2). "It was important to score early," she reflected afterwards. "With it being 2-1 in the end, it's important we scored the goal and it felt good to do so at [Arsenal Stadium]."

Smith's fine season continues

Talented Canadian forward Olivia Smith has taken little time to make an impression at Arsenal since her big summer move from Liverpool, and the 21-year-old showed once again that she is more than capable of performing on the biggest stage with a Player of the Match display in the OL Lyonnes win.

After showing flashes of her trademark skill and close control throughout the encounter, Smith capped off her impressive efforts by taking advantage of some uncertain OL defending to score the winner late on for a third Women's Champions League goal in her last five appearances.

"I think I'm very tenacious and I'm always very hopeful and I'm glad that I came out the other side with the goal," she said. "It's so special to score here with the fans, the music, I had my family here as well. A very special moment for me."