Amid a much-changed OL Lyonnes squad, the club’s full-scale rebranding (from Olympique Lyonnais Féminin) and its permanent move to the 59,186-seater Groupama Stadium, some things always stay the same: death, taxes, and Ada Hegerberg scoring.

Goal No. 67 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) in their eventual 3-0 win over St. Pölten on Matchday 2 was overshadowed by a stunning long-range chip from United States teenager Lily Yohannes, but the competition’s all-time leading scorer is still going strong at the age of 30.

“The Champions League is just next-level,” Hegerberg tells ESPN. “It’s a sort of adrenaline I just can’t explain.”

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Hegerberg has been at the top of the competition’s scoring charts for six years, having surpassed Anja Mittag’s previous record of 51 goals from 68 games back in 2019 — the Norway international equaled that 51 in just 49 games, then broke it with a brace in her next match. Since then, she has further separated from the chasing pack and has a total of 63 goals: 58 for OL Lyonnes, the club she joined back in 2014; two for Stabaek; and two for Turbine Potsdam.

With OL Lyonnes, Hegerberg has won the French League 10 times and the UWCL on six occasions, and she was named the first recipient of the Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018. It’s an astonishing record, but her career is about more than personal and team goals.

For so much of it, she has used her profile to push for excellence on and off the pitch. From 2017 to 2022 she refused to play for Norway over her belief that there was a lack of progress toward equal working conditions and overall support for the women’s program in the country. Looking at the UWCL as a whole, she wants more innovation, competition, ideas, long-term investment, commitment and above all, continued outside-the-box thinking to take the game to the next level.

“We have got to find a new formula, one that may differ from men’s football in some way,” Hegerberg says. “And I think [OL Lyonnes, Washington Spirit and London City Lionesses owner] Michele Kang has a lot of exciting ideas around it, trying to make women’s football our own game, with our own audience and our own style of playing.”

Kang took over at OL Lyonnes from previous owner and founder of the club’s women’s team Jean-Michel Aulas in 2023, and established them as an entity independent from the men’s side. Her plans are beyond mere financial muscle and spending; aspects such as the continued resetting of the women’s transfer record (which has changed hands four times already in 2025) are signs of positive movement, but not necessarily wholesale progress.

“It’s a part of the game,” Hegerberg adds. “But I think there are other areas to put more focus on in order to develop the game as a whole.”

Indeed, she has spoken before about how all her sporting idols growing up were male. But now at 30 years old, she sees sport differently. Her role models now are no longer players she has previously studied, but athletes who sustain brilliance over a long period of time.

“All female athletes have so many stories out there, but they’re so underfunded, so you get to hear 1% of them,” she says. “We have a lot of women champions out there that have stayed at the top of the game in a lot of sports. Faith [Kipyegon] is a long-distance runner as well that I follow now, and she’s absolutely amazing. [Tennis player] Serena Williams is incredible. You have [Nelly] Korda in golf as well that I follow a bit.

“But there’s a lot of tough women athletes out there that I try to keep up with, because I mean, we’re women after all. I don’t only want to have male role models. I’ve been very clear on who I’ve been following in football before, men’s footballers, etc. But now I try to look on the other side and get inspiration from other strong women athletes, because that’s more in our field.”

Keeping those figures in mind helps her continue her dedication to scoring goals and maintain her spot in the starting XI at OL Lyonnes amid a host of expensive new arrivals.

“I’ve never had the focus on being chased, really,” she says. “I always had the mindset of chasing, always putting new goals, putting myself in situations in everyday training where I always want to take the next step and develop sides in my game where I always keep myself on my toes.”

This is her 11th season at OL Lyonnes, and there’s a fresh feeling at the club now. Their previous successes are well known — 18 French league titles and eight Champions League crowns from 2010 to 2022 — and Hegerberg was there for six of the European wins, including an astonishing run of five straight starting in 2016. That group had legends such as Sarah Bouhaddi, Wendie Renard, Amandine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer, while Chelsea and England right back Lucy Bronze was also there for three of the titles.

“We made it look very easy, as if we were cruising for a lot of years,” Hegerberg says. “But we were like monsters in training every day. We were so committed, and we wanted it year in, year out. To re-create that success takes so much effort.

“In women’s football, you still depend on having innovative people coming in and helping the game. We were so lucky to have Jean-Michel making the difference, and now we have Michelle coming in. Had it not been for them, I don’t think we would have been here today.”

Now, she feels that “monster” mentality is returning with this new group. The summer saw Dzsenifer Marozsán, Sara Däbritz, Daniëlle van de Donk, Le Sommer and Ellie Carpenter all leave, but seven new faces arrived, including Jule Brand, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Ashley Lawrence, alongside 18-year-old USWNT star Yohannes.

“They were huge players, big characters, and are so respected for what they’ve done for the club,” Hegerberg adds. “You have to appreciate those who committed for such a long time to the club. I think a big part of our success is how we managed to keep the world-class players together, who managed to learn how to play together. But the transition needs to happen at some point … that’s football.”

Amid all the change, Hegerberg remained and takes pride in trying to inhabit the club’s mantra: “Nouvelle Histoire, Même Légende.” (New Story, Same Legend.)

“I’ve always felt this club is the place I can be the best version of myself,” she says. “We’ll never forget what Olympique Lyonnais was. But now we’re OL Lyonnes and it’s an exciting new era and it’s up to us to continue the history, and it takes a lot of work. We have had a lot of changes, but it’s all about respecting the legacy and being able to turn this new era into something successful as well.”

OL Lyonnes’ last UWCL crown came in 2022, but under the guidance of Jonatan Giráldez — the man who led Barcelona to the 2023 and 2024 Champions League titles — there is hope that they can get back to the top table of European football.

“He’s a guy who is very intense in the way he wants to work,” Hegerberg says. “He’s very competitive, and I find that very positive. I like competition. He’s already doing his interviews in French, which shows commitment and leadership our team like Lyonnes.

“I hope we manage to work hard together, and do what he wants to develop as a team, because that’s what we need moving forward. It’s exciting. We have to build, stone by stone, piece by piece and make sure we achieve something.”

With two wins from two so far (over defending champions Arsenal, and Swiss minnows St. Pölten) OL Lyonnes have started well. But the hard work is only just beginning.

“It’s been a while since we won it, so it’s going to take some serious work this season to get there,” Hegerberg says. “It’s not going to be easy, but I really hope that commitment of building a team long-term will show the results. Like any other title, it would be a very sweet feeling to win it again this year.”