With the help of two goals from midfielder Alexia Putellas, Barcelona won 4-2 over Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final on Sunday. This led to a 5–3 aggregate win to book a place in the final against OL Lyon. The French team had defeated Arsenal in the second semi-final on Saturday.
“I’m really happy for the team, they’ve had a great season and now we need to put the cherry on top,” three-time Ballon d’Or winner Etana Bonamati told streaming service Disney+.
“(Lyon) is a historic club in the Champions League, they have an amazing team, for me they have always been the team to beat,” said the playmaker, who got one of the biggest cheers of the match when he was substituted in the 68th minute – marking his return to action after breaking his leg in December.
Sunday’s defeat in front of more than 60,000 spectators at Camp Nou came after Bayern held Barca to a 1-1 draw at home a week ago and the visitors were looking to tighten their defense and beat the hosts on the break. However, the Catalans needed only 13 minutes to open the scoring, with Salma Parluelo finishing a Caroline Graham Hansen cross.
Bayern equalized the score after just four minutes when Pernille Harder picked up the ball on the halfway line before passing to Linda Dallmann running at the top of the box, who left the Barça keeper without a chance in her sweet spot.
However, the home side were unimpressed as Putellas put Barça ahead again with a deflected effort in the 22nd minute. Polish striker Ewa Pajor scored in the 54th minute and Putelas scored her second goal of the match four minutes later to tie the game.
Bayern came late and did not get any award
However, Harder had other ideas, drilling the ball into the far corner in the 71st minute to reduce the gap to two as Bayern fought hard for a comeback. The visitors twice hit the woodwork in the final minutes, before Harder found the back of the net again in the 90th, but it was called back by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
“At the moment it’s very painful,” Bayern defender and Germany captain Giulia Gwynn told German public TV broadcaster ZDF.
“There’s a lot of frustration because we feel like we’re still in this,” he stressed.
“I know we can be proud, but that feeling will come a little further. We had chances, we scored twice. I am not able to explain why the goal was not scored.
Barcelona will face OL Lyon in the final on May 23 in Oslo, Norway. This will be the sixth consecutive final for the Spanish giants, who won the Champions League in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Bayern, having failed to make the Champions League final for the first time, is still set for the double. After winning their fourth consecutive Bundesliga title last month, they will face Wolfsburg in the German Cup final in Cologne on May 14.
Edited by: Matt Pearson