Barcelona opened its eyes and saw itself. Not only with the victory, not only with the goals, not only with the clean sheet. But with the game, with its style and image, with a better offensive aspect, and with its defensive effectiveness. Barça woke up, after an inconsistent start to the season despite the victories, to beat Hammarby at home on the second day of the Champions group stage (9-0) after the setback in Manchester against City. Three points that place the Blaugranas as second in the group, surpassing the Swedes in goal average, and behind City, first with six, with whom they will meet again in mid-December at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
9
Cata Coll, Mapi León (Marta Torrejón, min. 75), Ona Batlle, Fridolina Rolfö, Ingrid Engen (Irene Paredes, min. 65), Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmatí (Esmee Brugts, min. 76), Alexia Putellas (Kika Nazareth , min. 76), Ewa Pajor, Caroline Hansen and Clàudia Pina (Keira Walsh, min. 65)
0
Anna Tamminen, Jonna Andersson, Julie Blakstad, Alice Carlsson, Eva Nyström, Stina Lennartsson (Smilla Holmberg, min. 63), Vilde Hasund (Smilla Vallotto, min. 63), Emilie Joramo (Ellen Gibson, min. 83), Asato Miyagawa (Thea Sørbo, min. 63), Cathinka Tandberg (Emma Westin, min. 72) and Ellen Wangerheim
Goals
1-0 min. 9: Caroline Hansen. 2-0 min. 23: Claudia Pina. 3-0 min. 44: Alexia Putellas. 4-0 min. 52: Mapi León. 5-0 min. 57: Claudia Pina. 6-0 min. 71: Ewa Pajor. 7-0 min. 74: Caroline Hansen. 8-0 min. 85: Esmee Brugts. 9-0 min. 89: Fridolina Rolfö
Referee Riem Hussein
Alexia Putellas (min. 37), Cathinka Tandberg (min. 59), Jonna Andersson (min. 88)
Victory was a necessity: in the last three games, Barcelona started losing, forced to come back in the second half. Against Madrid CFF it worked (1-8), also against Espanyol (7-1), but against Manchester the story was different. Pere Romeu came out with his gala eleven, but he could do nothing against the overwhelming citizen pressure, and the footballers ended up being victims of their own game. At home, against the Swede Hammarby, the hopes were more than that; It was also about convincing with and without the ball. And to score for the first time in the group stage. Therefore, against the Swedish team – a revelation this season and close to finishing their national league – Romeu was conservative and returned to the most classic formation with three midfielders, this time, with Keira Walsh on the bench: Patri Guijarro as a pivot, and Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí of interiors.
And it worked on the grass. In a corner of the Estadi Johan Cruyff, around 350 Hammarby fans deafened even the Catalans, making their team feel like locals. Especially the first minute. An error by Engen caused the Swedes’ first warning with Wangerheim testing Cata Coll in just 40 seconds elapsed. But it was only a mirage, and for the rest of the game the noise was for the Blaugranas. A rediscovered Barcelona, emerging well from rival pressure – a weak point in Manchester – from behind, with fewer defensive errors and a team focused on attack. In the opposite field the culés triangulated and associated constantly, soon finding themselves among themselves. Caroline Graham Hansen did it with Claudia Pina and with Alexia Putellas who, with a back heel, gave the assist to the Norwegian, who scored in a cross shot facilitated by the collision between Eva Nyström and Anna Tamminen, the Swedish goalkeeper.
Hammarby started the match with doubts, but improved their confidence with counterattacks that shook Barça’s security in those moments in which the current champions could even allow themselves moments of inaccuracies and impulsiveness in attack. Barcelona, well covered at the ends, advanced through the interior. Aitana commanded a chance, trusted Graham, crossed to Ewa Pajor, who couldn’t control the ball, and Pina picked it up inside the area to score the second. Close to her at all times was Alexia, who cursed every mistake and hit that went wide. But it also had its moment. Patri Guijarro raised his head and met the captain, who scored the ball for the third. With this goal, Alexia is two goals away from overtaking Luis Suárez as the third top scorer in Barcelona’s history.
And the fourth came, also with a header, for Mapi León after a center and corner service from Aitana, who also offered the fifth that Pina finished off with a low shot. With the game decided, Pere Romeu tried again with the four midfielders, although briefly, since after two more goals – one from Pajor, who already has 10 goals this season, and another from Graham – he chose to rotate and rest much of the starting eleven. Until the end, Barcelona did not stop, and gave their recital – time gave Esmee Brugts to score the eighth, and Fridolina Rolfö the ninth from a penalty – against a Hammarby that disappeared. His fans did not do it and did not stop their shouts from the corner despite the victory.
