A-Leagues great makes Aussie coaching history in Champions League as Matildas-led reunion awaits

Joe Montemurro became the first Australian coach to make the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League – men or women.

The Lyon head coach oversaw Thursday’s (AEDT) 4-1 win over Bayern Munich as the UEFA Women’s Champions League’s most successful club – with eight titles – completed a 6-1 aggregate triumph.

With the comprehensive victory alongside CommBank Matildas star Ellie Carpenter and Australian assistant Joe Palatsides, the A-Leagues great made Aussie coaching history as the first to feature in the semi-finals across either the men’s or women’s competitions.

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In the process, Montemurro – who won a pair of Ninja A-League Championships with Melbourne City, where he created history in 2015-16 after the team went through the entire women’s campaign without dropping a point – set up a reunion with Arsenal.

Montemurro previously coached Arsenal, leading the revival of the Gunners with a drought-ending 2018-19 Women’s Super League title.

A Women’s League Cup the season prior was also added to the collection followed by consecutive runners-up medals and a finals appearance in the 2017-18 FA Women’s Cup.

Montemurro, who also coached Melbourne Victory, boasted a 76% win rate during his Arsenal spell from the 2017-18 to the 2020-21 season in the Women’s Super League – the second-highest rate of any coach in that time (minimum five games).

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Now, his former club stand in the way of Lyon and a spot in the Champions League decider and there will be a host of other Australians involved.

Arsenal overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit as they blitzed Real Madrid 3-0 in the return leg to progress.

Matildas pair Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley started for Arsenal – who have Aussie Aaron D’Antino as assistant, while Kyra Cooney-Cross was on the bench.