Europe is blaugrana. Barça won its fourth Champions in Oslo, in the final between the two best teams in the world, sweeping OL Lyonnes of Jonatan Giráldez, of the millionaire Michele Kang, of Markel Zubizarreta. The French team conceded four goals against an unstoppable Barcelona, which recovered from the tough first half posed by the rival to crush them like champions in the second. Barça regains the European throne and makes a statement.
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From the first minute, Lyonnes’ instruction was clear: stop Barça at all costs and neutralize their main strength, the engine room from which all their football is crafted. With Alexia and Patri Guijarro covered, Barça had trouble circulating inside, despite the great game of the very young Clara Serrajordi, who debuted in her first Champions final showing that she has long ceased to be the future and is now the present.
Lyonnes welcomed Barça with aggression and suffocating pressure. They couldn’t keep the ball at their feet, and before the quarter-hour mark, the French dealt a blow. Renard headed a free kick towards Cata Coll’s goal, which the Balearic goalkeeper rejected, but Heaps caught the ball and, this time, sent it to the back of the net. Immediately, Patri Guijarro began applauding her teammates and lifting the team. Meanwhile, the play was reviewed by VAR, which ended up disallowing the goal for offside by Heaps. Barça was saved and had the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over.
But the disallowed goal ended up serving the opposite purpose, emboldening Lyonnes, who stepped forward and cornered an increasingly imprecise Barça. The ball didn’t last long for them, a scenario they are not used to, and they couldn’t create danger due to their haste.
Pere Romeu’s plan didn’t work out well, as he had bet on Salma Paralluelo’s speed in the starting eleven, ahead of Claudia Pina’s experience, but Paralluelo received good balls into space to exploit her counterattack strengths. Neither did Ewa Pajor, imprecise, nor Graham Hansen, overwhelmed by the match, shine up front. The nerves of playing at home, or the lack of rhythm due to her recent injury, meant the Norwegian did not have her best day.
The match was choking Barça, who were increasingly uncomfortable against a Lyonnes in their element. Cata Coll closed a first half to frame, frustrating the French team’s last attempt to go into halftime ahead on the scoreboard by preventing Bacha’s goal.
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Barça came alive in the second half. They knew how to resist the onslaught of an aggressive Lyonnes and look for their moment. And it came. Patri Guijarro sent a masterful pass to Ewa Pajor, who this time did not fail to send a powerful low shot to the back of the net to put the blaugrana ahead. The Polish player celebrated furiously in front of the culé fans’ stand, while they chanted her name, finally shaking off the curse that had accompanied her in the last five Champions finals. Five defeats with three different teams, a burden that at Ullevaal Stadion she was finally able to shed.
And she really did. Pajor proclaimed herself the MVP of the match in 14 minutes, the time it took her to score a double that also crowns her as the tournament’s top scorer with 11 goals. A goal with Claudia Pina’s signature, who had come on as a substitute shortly before, revolutionizing the match. Salma Paralluelo prevented a Montcada player’s play from being lost over the end line and saw Pajor in the small area asking for the ball to push it in and extend the lead.
With the match controlled, Aitana Bonmatí was able to enjoy another continental final, while Alexia Putellas handed the captain’s armband to Patri Guijarro before being substituted and saying goodbye to what looks to be her last final with Barça.
But the blaugrana had not yet said their last word. They wanted to leave Oslo in style, and Salma Paralluelo forgot the frustrations of the first half to join the party in a big way, with a stellar double in just three minutes to leave the culés speechless, unable to assimilate what they were experiencing. Fourth crown for Barça, against their archrival, the eight-time European champion. A dream come true.
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