The Spanish FC Barcelona came back from afar, Saturday June 3 in Eindhoven, to scratch a second Champions League against the Wolfsburg "Louves" (3-2) after a stunning, spectacular and disputed final in a stadium full and happy.
Led 2-0 at half-time, the Blaugrana turned the tide in a boosted second half which capsized the happiness of the thousands of Catalan supporters who came to garnish the PSV Stadion, filled by more than 33,000 people.
The Barça Femini party, which began in the sunny streets of Eindhoven, was however almost spoiled by the canonical start of the "Wölfinnen", more enterprising and ultra-efficient under the battering of Ewa Pajor (3rd minute, 0- 1) and Alexandra Popp (37th, 0-2).
But the Catalans have appropriated the motto of their opponents, "Immer Hungrig" ("always hungry"), to bite into them when they return from the locker room. Patricia "Patri" Guijarro (48th, 50th) sounded the revolt, with the left foot then the head, and Fridolina Rölfo (70th) finished the job, triggering a din of all the devils in the stands colored blue and garnet .
The "traumatic" memory of the defeat against Lyon
Two years after the inaugural title of 2021, the Barcelona women sit a little more the dream of European hegemony that they cultivate in the face of the weakening of Lyon, sacred monster of women's football with its eight crowns, eliminated in the spring in the quarter-finals . The "traumatic" memory, as double Ballon d'Or Alexia Putellas confessed on Friday, of the lost final against OL last season is now behind her, with a bright future to cultivate.
They proved on Saturday that they have much more than silky technique and a host of stars in their squad. The triumph of Eindhoven is also the coronation of their steel mind, yet the first quality attributed to their German opponents.
The Louves bit deeply at kick-off in the overly tender defense of the Spaniards. Pajor's ninth goal this season in C1 and the fourth in a European final for Popp, Ada Hegerberg's record equaled, however, did not kill the suspense, thanks to the incredible resilience of the new European champions.
For Wolfburg, crowned in 2013 and 2014, it is one more cruel disappointment. This is the fourth continental final lost by the Germans after 2016, 2018 and 2020, each time against Lyon. Barça experienced these torments in 2019 and 2022, a difficult but surely beneficial learning experience when absorbing the pressure of these peaks of intoxication.
The team led by Jonatan Giraldez behaved like champions on Saturday and proudly concluded a disputed European campaign without Putellas, seriously injured last summer with the selection and only returned to the field at the end of April. The 2021 and 2022 Ballon d'Or received a crowd and an ovation as it entered the final minutes of the final, its first appearance this season in the competition. Enough to complete the party on the Barça side.
