The sun beats down from high above Montjuïc onto the local populace. A cool breeze blows through to stave off the worst of the heat, but the clear skies and endless blue remain intoxicating to the casual tourist. The skyline is a sea of buildings trapped in its historic past, with the occasional protrusion of a modern, glass-encased skyscraper, providing a reminder of which centaury you are residing in. The streets might be filled with the typical cocktail of European traffic, with mopeds weaving through the jams, much to the annoyance of the local taxi drivers, yet the people choose to mingle through the streets at their own pace, as though time itself bends to their will, rather than the other way around. This is Barcelona, the beating heart of Catalonia, a place that has long seen itself as different to the rest of Spain. And nothing embodies that difference more than their Women’s Team.
2024 will see Barcelona wrap up their fifth Liga F title in a row, completing yet another domestic treble. And whereas Chelsea’s recent WSL title wins have often been close run things, often going to the final day, Barcelona’s have been anything but. Their last title was won by 10 points, and they had led the race from the second match until the season’s end. This season, they are looking to go unbeaten (and not for the first time), having only dropped on 2 points all season (a 1-1 draw with Levante) with 2 games to go. Whilst other teams in the league squabble amongst each other for the last 2 UWCL spots, Barcelona remain in an isolated bubble of supremacy, high above all others. And yet, despite ruling the roost at home, there is one frontier they have yet to fully exert their dominance.
When it comes to the Champions League success, there is only one team that comes to mind. Lyon have claimed a vice like grip on the competition, with 8 titles to their name, and looking to add to their haul when they face off against Barcelona this weekend, the third time the two have faced off at this stage of the competition. For Barcelona, they will be hoping it will be third time lucky.
When they first faced off in Budapest in 2019, Barcelona were the fresh faced newcomers to UWCL Finals. It had been a slow journey to the top, with defeats to Arsenal and Bristol Academy in the early years of their ascension to this stage of the competition. But now they were facing an experienced European winning machine in Lyon. It wasn’t even a contest. With an attack led by the inspirational Ada Hegerberg, Lyon tore Barcelona to shreds in a devasting opening 30-minute spell. It gave Lyon an unassailable 4-0 lead, with Hegerberg scoring a 16-minute hat-trick. Oshoala’s late goal provided the scantest of consolations.
‘It seemed like Lyon were on a plane, whilst Barcelona were on a bicycle’ explained Unnati Naidu, Senior Writer at DAZN and Barcelona fan. Alexia Putellas was more positive, stating that, despite the scoreline, there was no distance between the two sides. Nevertheless, the trouncing suffered triggered a shift in mentality at Barcelona towards their Women’s Team, to ensure such a humiliation would not happen again. They quadrupled their investment in their Women’s Team. Iconic players like Caroline Graham Hansen, Jenni Hermoso, Claudia Pina, Fridolina Rolfö and Irene Paredes, were recruited in the transfer windows that followed. Barcelona may not have won the Final, but they had showed their hand to the rest of Europe, that they were now a side that could compete with the higher order.
3 years on from Budapest, they finally cracked it. This time, the roles were reversed, as it was Chelsea, not Barcelona, who were the first time rookies at this stage of the competition. The British press backed Emma Hayes to fulfil her long-time dream of leading Chelsea to European glory, and completing a first quadruple for the club. It was faith misplaced. A freak own goal by Leupolz within the first minute set the tone. With Lieke Martens acting as Chelsea’s chief tormentor, Barcelona did to the Blues what Lyon had done to them, securing a 4-0 lead by half time, and easily saw the result out to claim a first ever European Title.
1 year on, a rematch in Turin, and a chance to avenge the drubbing of 2019. This time, it was Barcelona who were the favourites and the reigning Champions. They were seen as the new power in Europe, and Lyon the older guard, soon to fade into the background. Yet, the Final did not go the way many expected.
‘Barcelona were exhausted’ recalls Unnati ‘You could see the players were tired. The warning signs were there in the 2nd leg defeat to Wolfsburg in the Semi Final’. Barcelona had gone unbeaten that season, they’d already claimed the League and the Super Copa, with the Copa De La Reina still to come. But to fight on all four fronts had taken its toll on the squad. Whereas for Lyon, this was simply another day at the office.
‘Lyon’s mentality and experience built up from previous Finals shone through. They were much more experienced than Barcelona in handling the pressure of occasion’
It was like Budapest all over again. Lyon again raced ahead to secure a 3-0 lead, with Amandine Henry’s screamer the pick of the goals. Putellas was able to pull a goal back before half time, but Lyon were able to hold them at bay for the remainder of the contest and reclaimed their crown. The result devastated the players and the fans.
‘At least 60-70% of the fans in the stadium were Barcelona fans’, recounts Unnati. ‘People came on buses with 20hr journeys just to be there. The sheer disappointment the players had was not just that they had lost, but they felt as though they had let down the fans who had travelled so far, and in so many numbers, as they had done all season, only to watch them lose. Putellas was visibly distraught at full time’. But amongst the sadness, a wave of defiance punched through.
‘The fans cheered that they were still proud of the team. Bonmati promised to them all that they were coming back and would win it next year’. And win it they did. In one of the most thrilling UWCL Finals of the modern era, Barcelona came back from 2 goals down at halftime to Wolfsburg, to win 3-2, thanks to a brace from Patri Guijarro, and Fridolina Rolfö scoring the winner against her former club. Barcelona were back on top once again. But one team still stood in their way. One foe they still needed to conquer before they could truly call themselves the best team in Europe.
2024. Barcelona have now made it to a fifth final in six years. And once again, Lyon stand in their way. Twice now they have made them suffer the bitter taste of defeat. Will it be third time lucky?
‘They’re mentally stronger now. Especially after what happened against Wolfsburg in the previous Final. Had we been 2-0 down to Wolfsburg before 2023, we would have lost it. Ever since the defeat to Lyon in 2022, Players are being made to prepare mentally, understand the importance and the status of the contest. Getting it right in their heads and make them believe in themselves, believe that they can win, not matter what’.
There is an added incentive for Barcelona, in that they have never claimed a quadruple haul of trophies. When they won the UWCL against Chelsea, they also lost on penalties to Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de España Femenina Semi-Finals. Last season, they were disqualified from the Copa De la Reina for fielding Geyse, who was ineligible at the time. A triumph this year would not only end their greatest hoodoo and avenge the past defeats that have blighted them so badly, but it would also complete their trophy haul for that season, and truly place themselves upon the plinth as one of the greatest ever teams in Europe, and certainly the greatest of our time. It would also signal the conclusion of Jonatan Giráldez’s time at the club, who will be departing at the end of the season to coach at Washington Spirit. Claiming a third UWCL win for the club, and finally slaying the Lyon behemoth, would provide a perfect send-off for the Barcelona head coach.
Barcelona’s talismanic captain, Alexia Puttelas. Credit: Adam Salter
But what would a win here mean to the fans, to those who have followed this Barcelona side through thick and thin? The fans who have witness their team grow into this competition, ascended to glory, and provide such passionate support throughout?
‘It will be like coming full circle’, Unnati concludes, ‘because all the changes that we saw in the Women’s Team, the success they have had, reaching and winning the UWCL Final, it all started because of that Lyon defeat in 2019. They are the one team we wanted to beat for such a long time, and we haven’t been able to do so. A win here would finally mean we have defeated the team that has held us back for so long.’
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