Carli Lloyd vs. Alex Morgan: From Gold-Medal Teammates to Champions League Foes

All eyes last weekend were on Manchester City as they made their UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals debut in a match against current title holders Olympique Lyonnais.

Despite an abundance of talent, numerous internationals on the field and high stakes, two names dominated the build-up. Both of them FIFA World Cup winners. Both of them American.

Alex Morgan (Lyon) and Carli Lloyd (Manchester City) each made high-profile moves to Europe over the winter. Both had the world of women's soccer talking, yet their approaches to joining their new clubs couldn't have been more different.

For the social-media savvy, Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas' public pursuit of Morgan was clear.

"You can play in the best team in Europe with Olympique Lyonnais in the nicest stadium," one message aimed at Morgan on Twitter said. "The best women's team in Europe is Olympique Lyonnais," another tweet directed at her said. In truth, it was all for publicity and attention, as work to sign her was already in motion behind the scenes. Her move was announced not long before Christmas.

Compare that to the move of Lloyd, and the two U.S. gold medalists couldn't be more different. A trip to England over Christmas turned into an impromptu visit to Manchester after the World Player of the Year received an email from the club asking if she would be interested in stopping in.

Communication was ongoing after the meeting, but it wasn't until a few days before the move was made public that a contract had been signed.

Fast-forward to where we are now, in between two matches featuring the U.S stars in the Champions League semi-finals, and it's fair to say their short stints in Europe are representative of their respective moves.

The French champions, with a plethora of stars to select from to market the club, have a YouTube series, Rendez-Vous with Alex Morgan, which follows the U.S. star around the city as she absorbs what delights it has to offer. Lloyd, on the other hand, has had only a few club commitments—such as a fan signing session—and hasn't been overly exposed to the media since her move to England.

That's not a criticism of Morgan. She will have known what she was letting herself in for when joining the French giants, while they knew exactly what they wanted out of her. Despite her unquestionable status as a world-class striker, Lyon also saw the value Morgan's move would bring, attracting attention to the club from a global audience. Who can blame them?

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City, meanwhile, a side that was only formed in 2013 after relaunching the club formerly operated as Manchester City "Ladies," saw Lloyd not only as a player that would help them attract other talent, but also as someone who could take them to the next level herself.

Unlike Lyon, who have won every club competition available to them, City are still attempting to make their mark among Europe's elite. They won their first league title last year and will make their first appearance at the iconic Wembley Stadium on May 13 in their first Women's FA Cup Final.

This will, of course, present Lloyd with the opportunity to stroll out onto the field where she achieved one of the greatest accolades of her career: Olympic gold. The U.S. captain scored twice in the final at London 2012 in a 2-1 win over Japan, winning her second Olympic gold and helping Morgan to win her first.

"We have a lot of things on our radar between now and then, but I'm really looking forward to Wembley," Lloyd told Bleacher Report. "It's going to be a special trip."

Morgan herself will have a cup showpiece to look forward to with Lyon, as they have qualified for the Coupe de France final, where they will face fierce rivals Paris Saint-Germain. The U.S. forward scored four times in the semi-final win over Henin-Beaumont—a game her side won 10-0.

Coming into their UEFA Champions League semi-final this week, both Lloyd and Morgan have clearly had a positive influence on their respective clubs, with Lloyd able to take up her familiar attacking-midfield position while Morgan has had to adapt to multiple roles, including some time on the bench.

Lloyd, who made her debut for City in the Women's FA Cup last-16 match against Reading Women, was thrown straight into the starting XI despite little training time with her teammates and helped her side defeat their divisional rivals to progress to the last eight.

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Days later, she started again in Denmark in the Champions League quarter-final away at Fortuna Hjorring. Lloyd's ability to pop up with big goals in big games showed early on in her City career, as she grabbed the winner with a first-half header. City won the return leg by the same scoreline, progressing to the semi-final.

Meanwhile, Morgan had her own quarter-final challenge, helping her side win 2-0 in the first leg away in Germany against two-time Champions League winners Wolfsburg.

Viewers in the stadium and watching on TV saw Morgan play a different role wide on the left of a front three. In this position, she was not only responsible for trying to score those all-important away goals, but she also had defensive duties to stop German outside back Anna Blasse, a role she admitted was "something I'm not used to."

Morgan again played wide-left in the second leg at the impressive Parc Olympique Lyonnais, and despite a 1-0 loss, Lyon progressed to the semi-final for the showdown with Carli Lloyd's City. Once again, she shouldered attacking and defensive duties and was praised for her commitment and teamwork.

The first leg in Manchester was the first meeting in history between City and Lyon.

Without question, this was a step up in opposition for City, who have dominated English football for the last year but had never faced a team with the class from back to front of Lyon.

For the French club, it was a different challenge, with well-known players such as Lloyd and England captain Steph Houghton likely on their radar, but with some youngsters in the mix who may not be so well known to them.

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Lloyd surely wanted to make a positive impact early in the game, but after giving away a penalty in the opening minute, that storyline was absent from the script.

Japan's Saki Kumagai, who scored the winning penalty in the World Cup final in 2011 and last year's Champions League Final, coolly tucked the penalty goal away and provided the perfect start for Morgan—and a disastrous one for Lloyd.

In truth, both Americans were quiet in the game. Morgan, starting alongside UEFA Player of the Year Ada Hegerberg, was well-marshalled by the City defense, creating one clear-cut chance in 50 minutes that City keeper Karen Bardsley did well to save. Four minutes later, Morgan was replaced by France international Eugenie Le Sommer, who went on to score the killer third away goal for Lyon.

For City, Lloyd was forced to admire the skill and influence of Germany captain Dzsenifer Marozsan, who was excellent for the French club. The visitors dominated possession throughout the tie, which prevented Lloyd from influencing the game as much as she had done previously in the Champions League and FA Cup.

The 3-1 scoreline was a fair reflection of the game, with Lyon's experience in the competition shining through.

Despite three away goals and a two-goal deficit, Lloyd is not ruling out her team's chances.

"Overall we got a bit more comfortable as the game went on," she said. "But it's still half-time, so we have our work to do next weekend, and we're still in it.

"I think we shouldn't respect them as much, they are a great opponent, but we are a great team as well. We have got to go out there a little bit more hungry and on the front foot. We need to be confident in what we can bring."

Lloyd is almost certain to start this Saturday at the Parc OL, having played every minute of every game (450 minutes) since making her debut in March.

For Morgan, with Le Sommer and Hegerberg for competition, she could start with one of them in a front two, similar to that in Manchester in a front three (which was the case against Wolfsburg) or possibly even on the bench.

It goes without saying that once again, the pair will be the focal point of the matchup, which highlights the positive impact both have made during their short time in Europe. Interest in the UEFA Women's Champions League is always strong, but Lloyd and Morgan have taken it up a notch, not just for fans in England and France, but across Europe and, of course, in the U.S.

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This isn't the first time members of the U.S. Women's National Team have played in the competition, with Whitney Engen, Meghan Klingenberg, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe all gracing the Champions League Final in the last four years. But with City's global profile and Lyon's continuing dominance of European football, the match has generated huge interest thanks in part to the Lloyd versus Morgan subplot.

The European game is growing, and don't be surprised to see more U.S. stars potentially head over. Crystal Dunn will get her first taste of European football in the autumn when Chelsea Ladies enter the 2017/18 Champions League, while Heather O'Reilly, now retired from international soccer, will be looking to help Arsenal Ladies qualify for the 2018/19 competition.

But that's the future. Until then, Lloyd and Morgan will continue to be the sport's focus. Come Saturday afternoon, one of them will be celebrating a victory, a final in Cardiff and a new addition to her legacy.