Lieke Elisabeth Petronella Martens-van Leer (; ; born 16 December 1992) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger or midfielder.
Martens began her professional career playing for Dutch, German and Belgian clubs relatively close to her hometown of Bergen, Limburg. In 2015, Martens broke out on the international stage when she scored the Netherlands’ first ever goal in a Women's World Cup against New Zealand. In 2016, Martens’ performances at Swedish club FC Rosengård attracted the attention of FC Barcelona, who signed her the following year. Weeks after her signing at FC Barcelona was made official, Martens participated in the Netherlands' 2017 UEFA Women's Euro campaign. She was the Netherlands' standout player at that year's Euro, where the Dutch won their first ever major international title with the women's national team. She was chosen as Player of the Tournament, and later in 2017, she was voted as The Best FIFA Women's Player as well as the UEFA Women's Player of the Year.
In 2018, Forbes ranked Martens Number 22 in their "Most Powerful Women in International Sports" list. In the 2018–19 season, Martens helped FC Barcelona to their first ever UEFA Women's Champions League final, where she assisted their only goal in a 4–1 defeat to Olympique Lyonnais. Months later, she played in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, where she fought through a toe injury for most of the tournament. The Dutch reached the final and were defeated by the United States.
In 2021, Martens was an essential part of FC Barcelona Femení completing their first continental treble, winning the UEFA Women's Champions League, the Primera Division, and the Copa de la Reina all in the same season.
After leaving PSG Martens retired aged 32.
Early life Lieke Elisabeth Petronella Martens was born on 16 December 1992, in Bergen in the north of the Dutch province of Limburg."", Vrouwenvoetbal Nederland (in Dutch), 2015. Retrieved on 7 June 2015. She recalls playing football in her garden as a child.
Martens began playing football at five years old at local club . At thirteen, she went to Boxmeer club at the insistence of then national-team coach Vera Pauw, where she played with teams of boys. She then went to the Hogeschool van Amsterdam between the years of 2008–2009 before leaving to SC Heerenveen.
Club career SC Heerenveen Martens made the step to the Vrouwen Eredivisie at sixteen, first representing SC Heerenveen. She scored twice in eighteen appearances for the club.
VVV-Venlo Martens continued playing football in the Netherlands when she joined the newly-formed VVV-Venlo women's team, based in her hometown province of Limburg. Martens scored the club's first ever goal in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, a penalty against her former club SC Heerenveen. She played 20 matches for the club and scored nine times.
Standard Liège In 2011, Martens made the move from the Vrouwen Eredivisie to the Belgian First Division, where she played for Standard Liège. In her first official match with Standard she scored two goals to help win her first major title, the newly founded BeNe Super Cup."Lieke Martens scoort tweemaal in BeNe Super Cup ", Dagblad de Limburger (in Dutch), 2011. She also won the 2011–12 league title with the club in the Belgian Women's First Division, now known as the Belgian Women's Super League.
She made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut with Standard, scoring once in their Round of 32 tie against Brøndby IF. Her first Champions League goal came in the second leg, where she converted a penalty to bring Standard 4–3 up, but they lost the tie on a 5–4 aggregate score.
Martens scored 17 goals in the six months she was at the club.
Duisburg
After spending a year playing for Standard Liège, she made the move to German Bundesliga club FCR 2001 Duisburg.Markus Juchem, "Duisburg verpflichtet Lieke Martens ", Womensoccer.de (in German), 2012. Duisburg sporting director Claudio Marcone said her decision was influenced by Duisburg's close proximity to Limburg. Martens’ transfer was delayed due to a paperwork mixup within the German Football Association, so she was not allowed to play for Duisburg until July 2012, despite the transfer being made official in March 2012.
Kopparbergs/Göteborg Martens made the move to the Swedish Damallsvenskan when she signed for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC ahead of the 2014 Damallsvenskan season. Martens made her debut against Vittsjö GIK. Coach Stefan Rehn praised Martens' technique and her understanding with compatriot centre forward Manon Melis.
Rosengård In November 2015, it was announced that Martens had left Göteborg, transferring to Damallsvenskan champions FC Rosengård on a one-year contract.
In the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League, she was knocked out of the competition by her future club FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals on a 3–0 aggregate score. In the semifinal of the 2016 Svenska Cupen, she scored the game-winning goal against Piteå IF to make it to the cup final. Martens scored in the final, where Rosengård won the match 3–1. Martens also won the 2016 Svenska Supercupen with the club, as well as finishing the 2016 Damallsvenskan in second place.
Martens departed Rosengård in July 2017. Upon her departure from the club, she was tied as the league's third-highest scorer in that season's competition with eight goals in 11 appearances.
FC Barcelona 2017–18 season In July 2017, Martens signed for FC Barcelona for an undisclosed fee on a three-year-long contract. She made her debut for the club as a substitute in a 9–0 win against Zaragoza CCF. She scored her first goal in a 10–0 win over Santa Teresa. Barcelona finished the league that season in second place, one point behind rivals Atlético Madrid. Martens had eight assists and 11 goals in the league that year, and was Barcelona's second-highest goalscorer behind Andressa Alves.
In the semifinals of the 2018 Copa de la Reina, Martens scored what was nearly Barcelona's game-winning goal against Athletic Bilbao until Lucía García scored the equalizer less than a minute later. The match went to penalties where Barcelona went through to the final against Atlético Madrid. Martens played all 120 minutes of the final that went to extra time, which Barcelona won through a Mariona Caldentey goal in the 122nd minute. The 2018 Copa de la Reina was her first major title with the club.
In the 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League campaign, Martens recorded three assists in a win against Round of 16 opponent FC Gintra. In the quarterfinals of that year's competition, Barcelona faced Lyon, where they lost 3–1 on aggregate. Martens made it to that year's UWCL Team of the Season.
2018–19 season For much of the beginning of the 2018–19 season, Martens dealt with multiple injuries. In 2019, Martens started against Atlético Madrid in the Wanda Metropolitano, in a match that broke the attendance record for a women's club football match with 60,739 attendees. Barcelona won 2–0, but the win wasn't enough to secure a league title, and they finished second place for the fourth season in a row.
Barcelona had a relatively unsuccessful Copa de la Reina campaign that year. They defeated Madrid CFF 3–0 in the quarterfinal, with Martens scoring the first goal of the match. They reached the semifinal where they played Atlético Madrid, but fell 2–0 to their rivals after a brace from Ludmila.
Martens helped FC Barcelona reach the final of the UEFA Women's Champions League in her second season at the club. They lost the final 4–1 against Lyon on 18 May in Budapest. Barcelona's one goal was scored by Asisat Oshoala and assisted by Martens. Despite reports that Lyon were interested in signing Martens, she extended her Barcelona contract in July 2019 for three more years until 2022.
2019–20 season Martens missed the first half of Barcelona's 2019–20 season due to the severity of her toe injury from the 2019 Women's World Cup. She returned to training in November 2019 and was medically cleared later in the month.
Martens featured in the first ever edition of the Supercopa Femenina in 2020, where Barcelona played Atlético Madrid in the semifinal of the competition. Martens scored one goal and gave an assist to Asisat Oshoala in a 3–2 win in Barcelona's favor. They made it to the final, where Martens gave two assists and played all 90 minutes in a 10–1 blowout of Real Sociedad.
In May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought on the premature cancellation of the 2019–20 Primera Iberdrola, which was awarded to Barcelona after 21 matchdays. With this cancellation, Martens won her first league title with Barcelona and also the second league title of her senior career. Alongside the cancellation of the Spanish league, the COVID-19 pandemic also brought about the indefinite suspension of the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League. In August 2020, the competition resumed, with modified single-legged ties. Martens started the quarterfinal match against Atlético Madrid, but was subbed off for Mariona Caldentey. Barcelona were saved by a late winner from Kheira Hamraoui and made it to the semifinal against VfL Wolfsburg. Martens did not start and entered late in the match, as Barcelona's campaign ended with a 1–0 loss to the Germans.
Similarly to the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 2019–20 Copa de la Reina was pushed back a year, and was completed in the middle of the 2020–21 season. Martens started all matches of that campaign except for the Round of 16, and Barcelona won the trophy by winning the final 3–0 against EdF Logroño.
2020–21 season In the first match of the 2020–21 league season, Barcelona played in the first version of the Women's Clásico, where Martens subbed on and scored Barcelona's third of four goals against Las Blancas. Later that season, she participated in another historic league match when Barcelona played against rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou, the first women's football team to play a competitive match at the stadium. She was substituted on in the 65th minute, and scored Barcelona's fourth goal of the match. Barcelona finished as league winners in May 2021 after winning 26 straight matches.
Martens began her 2020–21 Champions League season by scoring 3 goals in 2 matches against Dutch side PSV in the Round of 32. In the Round of 16, Barcelona faced Fortuna Hjørring. Martens was injured for the first match of the tie, and for the second match of the tie, she came into the match as a substitute where she recorded an assist. Martens was used as a substitute in both matches of the quarterfinals against Manchester City, where Barcelona won 4–2 on aggregate. In the second leg of the semifinals of the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League, Martens scored a brace against PSG. Her two goals brought the aggregate score to 3–2 in Barcelona's favor and sent them to their second ever UWCL Final. Martens started the final on 16 May 2021, and was one of Barcelona's most involved forwards. She assisted Barcelona's fourth and final goal, a dribble down the wing and a cross into the box that was finished by Caroline Graham Hansen. Martens ended the competition having scored five goals and giving one assist in seven games, and was included in the UWCL Squad of the Season.