Jule Brand in the Champions League final: Happier than ever

Vor one scene in particular can now be dug out from the archives; it fits ideally as an intro for this Champions League final: how the German national player Jule Brand faces the Spaniard Alexia Putellas in the dressing room corridor of the Fritz Walter Stadium, both with the other’s jersey, which they had recently taken off, in their hands. “Thank you for the jersey,” says Brand to the two-time world footballer and world champion after the first leg of the Nations League final. Putellas responds with a smile: “Good luck with Lyon, but not against us!” Brand looks a little shy and quickly responds politely: “No, no!”, as if it was a matter of reassuring his parents that he definitely wouldn’t come home late from a party.

At that time, Putellas and FC Barcelona led the group stage of the Champions League with the same points as Brand’s club OL Lyonnes. Five months and three weeks later, the currently best teams in Europe will face each other in the final of the premier class this Saturday (6 p.m., ZDF live stream). And the fact that Olympique were able to make their way to Norway to the sold-out Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo has a lot to do with Jule Brand.

In the semi-final against defending champion Arsenal FC, Lyon lost the first leg 1-2, the only goal: fire. During the comeback in the second leg, she first provided an assist and then scored the 3-1 winning goal in the 86th minute – so celebrated and so beautiful that Brand later said that she had looked at her shot with her left foot from an acute angle a few times: “I think I’ve never been happier in my life.” It was a goal with symbolic power that represents the development of this footballer.

Just last summer, the 23-year-old moved from VfL Wolfsburg to France, out of her comfort zone and into a team with a particularly high concentration of skills, ego and ambition. All these big names – and her in the middle of it all. On the first day, Brand said, she was very nervous: everything was new, moving abroad for the first time, she had a hard time. This still applies to the French language, but on the pitch Brand has established himself in the tough competition between self-confident leaders like Ada Hegerberg and Wendie Renard, and Brand has become a central figure himself.

The fact that Jonatan Giráldez took over OL in the summer could be the decisive trump card in this superlative final

The fact that she trains in every session at a level and with an intensity that only a few clubs can offer has made her mature. Brand has gotten a better handle on the fluctuations between world class and erratic dribbling action that often occur within a game. She appears more focused, acts more efficiently and calmly. In the Champions League this brought her three goals and assists, while only Melchie Dumornay, who drives the OL offensive with a top speed of 31.4 km/h, has six scorer points at Lyon. While national coach Christian Wück recently saw a playmaker in particular on fire, at Lyon under coach Jonatan Giráldez she is in her actual territory on the wing – not always 90 minutes, not always from the start, but with an increasing trend and increasing recognition.

The fact that Giráldez took over OL in the summer of 2025 after a season in the USA with Washington Spirit could be the decisive trump card in this final of superlatives: Lyon is the record winner with eight titles, Barça has been in six of the seven most recent finals, including now for the sixth time in a row, which is also a record. Giráldez not only knows the opposing club and the players very well, he also knows Pere Romeu tactically “inside out,” as he recently said. Since 2019, Giráldez has been assistant coach of Barça’s Women, and from 2021 to 2024 she was their head coach with Romeu as assistant. Ten of twelve possible trophies went to their team during this time, and they won the Champions League in 2023 and 2024.

Much of what Giráldez established back then still forms the basis for Romeu’s work in Barça’s typical possession football. The Catalans have scored 124 goals in the league, while second-placed Real Madrid scored 59. They are the only ones unbeaten in the premier class. One of the most dangerous offensives in Europe awaits Lyon, as well as probably the best midfield line with the recovered Aitana Bonmatí, Patricia Guijarro and Putellas. In his new team, however, Giráldez has a quality that is no less exceptional and is more characterized by physicality and speed. If Jule Brand’s quick dribbling skills are added in the final meters, things could also become difficult for FC Barcelona.

The last time Brand faced this club in the Champions League final, in 2023 with VfL Wolfsburg, she had to watch from start to finish as a 2-0 scoreline turned into a 2-3 loss. At least that shouldn’t happen to her this time. No no!