“All the suffering seems worth it”

The final of the Women’s Champions League in Eindhoven, Holland turned into a real thriller. Pre-favorite Barcelona was struggling in the opening half, but came back from two goals behind in the second half to win 3–2 and grab their second Champions League win in history.

Barcelona’s hero shined especially when he hit twice at the beginning of the second period Patricia “Patri” Guijarro.

This is how the match went

Wolfsburg got a dream start to the match when Ewa Pajor stole the ball from a knee injury rehabilitated for the final From Lucy Bronze and fired the ball into the net from far away after only three minutes of play. The hit was already the ninth of the competition for the Polish striker.

The underdog succeeded in his game plan and kept Barcelona’s vaunted midfield in the dark. At half an hour, the Catalan giant was able to create several danger spots for Wolfsburg’s goal, but the good period ended unexpectedly with Wolfsburg’s second goal.

Pajor was able to cross for the captain of the German national team rushing to the goal To Alexandra Poppand the German striker, who won the Bundesliga goal exchange with 16 hits, headed the ball into the net.

Barcelona still had a spot at the very end of the opening period when Bronze released Salma Paralluelon to score a goal, but the German keeper, who caught the ball wonderfully, slipped it by Merle Frohms into my arms. Wolfsburg went into the break with a 2–0 lead.

If the opening period progressed under Wolfsburg’s command, the second period was Barcelona’s show. The head coach Jonatan Giráldez the half-time talks clearly paid off, as the Catalan giant struck twice in just a few minutes: Patricia Guijarro was responsible for both hits.

First, Guijarro was struck by the Norwegian talent by Caroline Graham Hansen from a great start in the 48th minute.

Just a moment later, the ball was in Wolfsburg’s goal again, when Fence Bonmatí crossed and Guijarro was able to score the equalizer.

Twenty minutes later, Barcelona took the lead for the first time in the match when they took advantage of Wolfsburg’s confusion in front of their own goal. The ball eventually bounced off the Swedish star Fridolina to Rolfowho shot the ball into Wolfsburg’s net for the third time.

The Catalan supporters still got what they wanted at the end, when he recovered from a knee injury Alexia Putellas came onto the field for the last few minutes. According to his own words, the Catalan captain, who was in full playing condition before the match, received thunderous applause, even though in the end the minutes in the final remained modest.

The second half of the match was very violent and Barcelona took advantage of all the time. Especially Alexandra Popp, who was responsible for Wolfsburg’s second goal, took numerous hits and was hot.

Wolfsburg had a chance to equalize in extra time, but in the end no more goals were seen and Barcelona’s celebration started in front of 35,000 spectators. The home stadium of the Dutch club PSV was sold out.

– It’s hard to find words. This is really quite amazing. I’m so happy I’m mixing! There are so many emotions… This has been a big dream that has now come true. I will remember this for a long time, Rolfö commented to SVT.

The Swedish media had to wait almost three hours for the star’s comment.

Fourth final in five years

For Barcelona, ​​the final match was already the fourth Champions League final in five years. Although the Catalan giant has dominated the pitches of his home country sovereignly, only once before had it managed to leave as a winner, when it overthrew Chelsea in an empty Gamla Ullev in Gothenburg 4-0 in the spring of 2021.

Last spring, Lyon was stronger in Turin with a score of 3–1.

– This year we wanted to win especially much, because last year ended like that. I’m so happy. The year has been hard, but all the suffering feels worth it at the moment, Barca captain Alexia Putellas, who lifted the trophy, commented to DAZN.

Putellas injured his knee during last summer’s European Championships and had to miss the games. He returned to playing condition only on May Day, but did not start in a single match after that.

On the other hand, the atmosphere in the other camp was disappointed. One of those who took the loss the hardest seemed to be German striker Alexandra Popp, who scored Wolfsburg’s second goal in the television pictures.

The 32-year-old Popp got to celebrate the Champions League victory with Duisburg for the first time in 2009 and has also celebrated the championship twice with Wolfsburg. However, the team’s most recent championship is from 2014, and since then the team has lost four finals.

Poppi’s 11th season in Wolfsburg didn’t cut the pipe.

– As for ball control, Barcelona probably deserved their victory. We were so close though. It hurts incredibly when the victory is already in hand and then it is taken away, Popp burst out after the match.