The current triple champion against the team that has been absent from the Champions League for two years and without adding any trophy to its showcase. The outcome of the meeting seemed to have been written just by reading the synopsis. But with history underway, like a twist in the script, Barcelona drowned in the intense pressure of Manchester City, although it was also the victim of its own inaccuracies and thick ball circulation in the first game of the group stage of the maximum European competition. A wake-up call, a first challenge after scoring a goal in the Spanish League that ended badly for the culés.
2
Ayaka Yamashita, Alex Greenwood, Naomi Layzell, Laia Aleixandri (Alanna Kennedy, min. 89), Kerstin Casparij, Vivianne Miedema, Yui Hasegawa, Jessica Park (Jill Roord, min. 78), Khadija Shaw, Mary Fowler (Aoba Fujino, min. .80) and Lauren Hemp
0
Cata Coll, Fridolina Rolfö (Esmee Brugts, min. 72), Ingrid Engen (Clàudia Pina, min. 63), Mapi León, Ona Batlle, Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmatí (Vicky López, min. 85), Keira Walsh (Kika Nazareth , min. 85), Alexia Putellas (Irene Paredes, min. 85), Caroline Hansen and Ewa Pajor
Goals
1-0 min. 35: Naomi Layzell. 2-0 min. 76: Khadija Shaw
Referee Stephanie Frappart
Laia Aleixandri (min. 13), Mapi León (min. 30), Caroline Hansen (min. 46)
To avoid this, Pere Romeu, against the most demanding rival in the group, brought out his gala eleven with the new signing, Ewa Pajor, as nine scorer, leaving Aitana Bonmatí and Patri Guijarro as interiors in the midfield, Keira as pivot, and Alexia Putellas as the fourth midfielder and false left winger, more of an etiquette than a function. But the bet didn’t end up working.
Barcelona always found it difficult to play games away from home, and even more so in the process of adjusting. In Manchester it was no different, and even less so against a team similar to them: two teams comfortable with the ball and disoriented without it. The good release of the ball by Laia Aleixandri – formerly of the Barça youth team and citizen heroine after avoiding a goal from Pajor – and the incessant pressure from City put a Barcelona team that was not very fluid – especially in the center of the field – and incapable of to link plays.
Inexplicable losses among the best players of the culés, and errors at the back that benefited their opponents. Bunny Shaw—a top differential due to her strength and definition—commanded the English attack accompanied by two incisive wingers, Mary Fowler and Lauren Hemp, against a culé defense that camouflaged itself as a goalkeeper, supporting Cata Coll to stop the constant rival shots. But Cata, savior on several occasions from her team’s chaos, could not prevent Naomi Layzell’s goal from a corner.
Still, Barcelona had their chances with Caroline Graham Hansen and Alexia finding their way again on the counters. In the second part, they revived. The field seemed bigger, with longer balls and generating some danger. But Shaw attacked the Catalans’ back and scored the second goal, which sealed the match. The final won in Bilbao is behind us, and the next one in Lisbon is still far away.
