7-time European women's soccer champion Lyon hires Sonia Bompastor as 1st female coach
French club eliminated in 2021 Champions League quarters after 5 straight titles
Europe's most successful women's soccer team has hired a woman as its coach for the first time with Lyon's appointment of Sonia Bompastor to replace Jean-Luc Vasseur.
The seven-time European champion on Tuesday parted ways with Vasseur after the team recently was knocked out of the Women's Champions League at the quarter-final stage.
Lyon had won five consecutive Champions League titles but was eliminated by French rival Paris Saint-Germain this season. The 14-time French champions also trail PSG in the domestic league by one point.
The 40-year-old Bompastor, a former France midfielder and defender who played six seasons at Lyon, has a contract through June 2023. She was director of Lyon's women's academy for the past eight years.
Bompastor will inherit Canadian defender Kadeisha Buchanan as part of a strong roster.
Vasseur was the UEFA women's coach of the year in 2019-20, his first season with Lyon.
With files from CBC Sports
