Barcelona Femení has been more than dominant in Spain this season, winning every match and currently holding a goal differential of +96. The fear was that the lack of challenging competition in the domestic campaign would lead to issues when tougher opponents came along in the Champions League. Nevertheless, Lluis Cortes and company handled their business at home and have one foot in the next round.
Technically at home but playing at the U-Power Stadium in Italy, Barça still started on the front foot against their English foe. Opportunities came throughout the first half but with no final product. Misses from Asisat Oshoala, Aitana Bonmatí, and Caroline Graham Hansen might have worried Culers that this would be a repeat of the semi-final against Wolfsburg last season, a match where the Blaugrana were the better side but missed chances knocked them out.
Through deadly left-winger Lauren Hemp, City did get some opportunities in the first half when they were able to bypass the press and get out on the break. Any goal for Gareth Taylor’s side would have come on the counter-attack, and Barcelona’s Sandra Paños had to be up to the task on a few occasions.
Barça deserved their lead though, and the opening goal finally came in the 35th minute. Graham Hansen delivered a cross into the box off a set-piece, and when City couldn’t clear their lines, Mariona laid the ball off for Oshoala to pass into the bottom corner with power past goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck.
Whenever the first goal is scored in this kind of tie, there is always a chance that the losing team will find the answer quicker than the team who now has something to protect. Barcelona, to their credit, didn’t fall for that old trick and continued to press high and keep their opponent at bay. Alexia Putellas, Patri Guijarro, and Aitana Bonmatí didn’t have many highlights in the first half, but their hard work kept the game in the opposition’s end more often than not.
At halftime, Taylor swapped out 20-year-old Esme Morgan for the experienced Demi Stokes at left-back, a move to attempt to slow down Graham Hansen on the wing. Unfortunately for Stokes, she found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and within seven minutes of coming on had conceded a penalty. Aitana placed a well-weighted through ball to Graham Hansen up the middle and while the City defense stopped her initial shot, Oshoala stepped in and was brought down by Stokes. Mariona stepped up for the Femení and converted the penalty to extend the lead to 2-0.
Hemp continued to be the dangerous player on the left wing for City though. She won her team a penalty when Mapi León brought her down in the box. Fortunately for Mapi, Paños is one of the top keepers in the game. Chloe Kelly hadn’t had the best day up to that point, and her penalty was a bit too high and Paños stopped it easily.
The worse news for the Blaugrana came in the 62nd minute when Graham Hansen was forced off due to an injury. Hopefully this was just precautionary for the Norwegian winger, and it’s not like Lieke Martens is a huge drop-off coming off the bench.
Lluis Cortes continued to fortify his defense and freshen things up as the game dwindled down. Kheira Hamraoui, Jenni Hermoso, and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic replaced Aitana, Oshoala, and Marta Torrejón between the 70th and 80th minute. The introduction of Hamraoui pushed Patri farther up the field and only seconds after the change was Patri blasting a long-range shot towards the City goal.
Barcelona’s third goal, however, arrived in the 86th minute through Jenni. Not fit enough to start but fit enough to come off the bench, the Spanish forward dropped to receive a pass from Hamraoui and fed it through to Alexia running behind the defense. While Alexia’s shot hit the post, the powerful rebound from Jenni left no doubt who the better side was on the afternoon. That’s now five goals for Jenni Hermoso in the Champions League.
Barça is not out of the woods and into the semi-final just yet. Steph Houghton is expected to return to the City backline by the second leg and she could help the English side to play a more wide-open game at home. That said, the depth of Barcelona has been Lluis Cortes’ biggest weapon this year, and competition for spots has meant that his team has remained mentally sharp for every challenge so far.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
