After the final in Reggio Emilia, UEFA’s team of technical observers addressed the task of paring down a list of almost 50 candidates to form a ‘team sheet’ of 18 players. The sizeable contingent of Olympique Lyonnais players in the Select Squad was not so much down to the slices of luck required to come out on top in a penalty shoot-out but rather the recognition due a team which had been outstanding in terms of technique in all departments, tactical awareness and maturity in reading the game. These virtues had also combined to make Gérard Prêcheur’s side the top scorers of the competition with 36 goals in the credit column and only three on the debit side.

Curiously, the players in the Select Squad who had also appeared in the previous season’s selection all hailed from other clubs: VfL Wolfsburg’s centre-back and captain Nilla Fischer; Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Shirley Cruz Traña; and the 1. FFC Frankfurt midfielder Simone Laudehr and her attacking companion Dzsenifer Marozsán.