Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord had been key players as the Gunners won the trophy last season in Lisbon, but only Foord was in the side on Saturday as they were largely outplayed 3-1 in the semi-final second leg at OL Lyonnes, suffering a 4-3 defeat on aggregate. Â
Arsenal boss Renee Slegers admitted defeat was tough to take but she had no complaints after Europe's most successful women's club earned revenge for their semi-final loss last year with a convincing triumph.
It was a disappointing end to the Gunners' reign for Catley, who had penned a new two-year deal with Arsenal earlier in the week but wasn't fit enough to play as she's still nursing a calf injury she suffered in the quarter-final against Chelsea.
Cooney-Cross has ended her season at the club after flying back to Australia to be with her ill mother.
Foord and her teammates thought they had found a way back into the tie when Alessia Russo had levelled on aggregate after goals from Wendie Renard, with a retaken penalty after Arsenal encroached when the first attempt was saved, and Kadidiatou Diani had put Lyonnes in command.
But Jule Brand struck with just four minutes from time to secure the triumph for the eight-times champions and a place in a 12th final.
Slegers admitted: "It's, emotionally, disappointment because we were so close and we all believed we could do it, even though we went through really hard times today.
"When the 3-1 goal came, that was really tough. At the moment we're very disappointed. But today Lyonnes were the better team. They've got world-class players, but still, it was a very tight game, small margins."
Ultimately, though, Arsenal were only denied the chance of taking the game into extra-time because Brand's winning goal was awarded only after a lengthy offside check.
Lyon will face either Bayern Munich or three-time champions Barcelona in the final. They play on Sunday, locked on 1-1 after the first leg in Germany.
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