Barcelona continue to rewrite women’s football history as the Blaugrana have claimed a second Quadruple in three years thanks to a 4-0 win against OL Lyonnes in Saturday’s Women’s Champions League Final in Oslo, Norway. After a very even first half the Catalans established their superiority in the final period, and Ewa Pajor and Salma Paralluelo shined with two goals each to give the Catalans a fourth Champions League title in six years as they remain the most dominant side in the sport.
The opening 45 minutes were very even with both teams having strong moments and trading big chances against each other. Lyon had the lead early on but Lindsey Heaps’ goal was disallowed for offside, and Selma Bacha’s free-kick required a sensational save from Cata Coll later in the half. Barça also had two massive chances of their own but Ewa Pajor was uncharacteristically wasteful by her very high standards, and neither team could find the net in the opening period despite some really good football from both sides.
If the story of Barça’s first half was Ewa Pajor’s wastefulness, the story of the second was her scoring brilliance: the Pole fired a beautiful low shot into the bottom corner after an assist by Patri Guijarro 10 minutes into the period, then tapped home an assist by Salma Paralluelo with 20 minutes to go to finish off a perfect counter-attack and give Barça a monster two-goal lead to put the Blaugrana in a great position to win the title.
Lyon desperately tried to find their way back in the contest and Cata Coll made a monster save one-on-one with Tabitha Chawinga, but that turned out to be their last chance and there was time for a spectacular ending for Barça: Paralluelo fired a sensational strike from outside the box into the top corner to make it 3-0 and seal the win and the title, and scored another on the counter to turn the win into an absolute dream.
The final whistle came to end a perfect evening for Barça, who were absolutely fantastic in the second half and deservedly beat their biggest European nemesis. Ewa Pajor finally has a Champions League title, and Alexia Putellas may very well have played her last game for Barça and ends her career in glorious fashion. Well done, ladies!
