Barcelona Femeni pulled the curtains on a historic season in Eindhoven on Saturday after a second-half comeback at the Phillips Stadion crowned them queens of Europe.

A nightmare start that left the Catalonians trailing 2-0 at halftime mirrored frustration from last year's final when they failed to catch up with serial winners Lyon.

First-half goals from Ewa Pajor and Alex Popp put a clinical and well-drilled Wolfsburg team in cruise control.

But it only took five minutes following the restart for Patricia Guijarro to score a brace and shift momentum into her team's grasp.

The sold-out stadium rocked as Fridolina Rolfö completed the comeback in the 70th minute to reward Barcelona with a second Champions League trophy in three consecutive finals. 

Although not their first climb to the summit of European glory, The Catalans' scintillating comeback against Wolfsburg discerned an impending bastion of invincibility that is likely to rule the kingdom for quite some time.

For the past decade, as women's football has flourished, Lyon have sat at the top. Now, it is time to coronate a new dynasty with Jonatan Giraldez's Barcelona. 

  • Story of the Match

Long before the sound of the referee's whistle, Eindhoven was painted in Catalonia's red, blue, and orange. As the sun beat down and Blaugrana made themselves heard, Barcelona never felt far away.

The news of an unchanged lineup from the semi-finals, with Alexia Putellas rearing to make an impact from the bench, only intensified the Barca spirit that reigned supreme across the Netherlands.

Heading into the fixture, they were also hot favourites among neutrals. In their third successive final in this competition, they had to spare last season's Lyon blushes to reignite their pomp and position as the darlings of women's football. 

But the difficulty of contrasting styles and Wolfsburg's European heritage, to which Eindhoven was their seventh European final since making their champagne-heavy debut in the 2012-13 season, gave Barca an uphill battle from the offset. 

Inside three minutes, Ewa Pajor, the competition's leading goalscorer for the campaign, nicked the ball from beneath a confident Barcelona backline to leave Tommt Stroot with his hands in the air and Bronze speechless as a driven shot rocketed from outside the box and into the top right corner.

As pristine and transfixing as Barca's style is, the She-Wolves' system was the more effective strategy. They pressed, but only when they needed, and blocked every attempt that fell by way of their opposition. As soon as an opportunity arose, they attacked, and they did so clinically.  

Defeating the proverbial 'goal scored too early', Wolfsburg continued to be a pressing threat in the first half, primarily through Sveindís Jónsdóttir on the right.

Certainly, it didn't come without its scares for the Germans. In the 35th minute, Graham Hansen could, and should, have found the net after Mapi Leon guided a cross into her feet. 

But with every passing chance having been wasted, with everything but the final touch going the way of the Catalonians, frustration reached its palpable boundary in the 38th minute.

Nightmares of last year's final rang in the ears of the stadium's majority as Pajor's inswinging cross met the head of Alexandra Popp before both wheeled away to the backing track of a rocked Barcelona team who dropped to their haunches. 

Ultimately, Wolfsburg's game plan was executed to perfection in the first half. But while Barca were dumbfounded, they didn't enter the break without chances as Paralluelo closed the period with a scurry forward that Frohms closed down and thwarted. 

Second half

During the break, the only remedy for Barca was that the worst was over with. They moved the ball well without any clinical edge. For them, the second half presented the team with nothing to lose.

A dynasty has been in the pipeline for some time. A dynasty that wasn't quite built yet. But if the first 45 minutes could be forgotten about in any shape or form, then Patricia Guijarro chose the correct way.

Of course, European legacy tells those that follow the women's beautiful game that  Wolfsburg are clinical. But it also reminds us that, whatever anybody can do, Barca can match it or go one better. 

It took just five minutes of breathtaking, tiki-taka brilliance to solve all of  Jonatan Giraldez's problems. The frustration of the first half was shaped into the perfect frame of mind to launch a comeback when a brilliantly worked move was slotted into the roof of the net by Guijarro.

The football on show was in its purest form. It was like an oil slick on scorching tarmac. Fresh out of the tank, spreading all over. Glitters in the sun when the light catches it - reflecting an erratic array of colours from the spectrum. 

And soon enough, effervescence turned to effect for Barca, who doubled their tally in the 50th minute, with Guijarro heading in for her second the afternoon. 

By the hour mark and beyond, everything was in Barca's favour. Even the final touch was polished. It was hard to decipher whether Wolfsburg had collapsed, though, as the underdogs for the occasion did continue to produce a threat.

Panos was called into action twice in a matter of minutes, but it was no good. Blaugranes weren't ready to keep their empire unfinished for much longer, and so a Catalonian lead proved inevitable.

With 20 minutes to go, extra time never loomed large, which was exemplified when Fridolina Rolfö took advantage of a pinball in the box to stab the ball past Frohms. 

The game had spun on its head, with that so-called heritage, legacy, and pattern of European football stepping aside for the new queens of the continent. 

Even without La Reina, Barca could show for all that they are worth. It felt like a storm had been brewing for a while, but they had only just unlocked the potential to highlight it. 

After scoring the third, Barca retained full control of the fixture. Whatever was said at the break proved too much for their German opposition as The Catalans relished a special occasion in a sunswept Eindhoven. 

  • Player of the Match - Patricia Guijarro

Who else could it have been but for the firestarter to an unforgettable and special afternoon in the eternally-embedded history of Barca Femeni, which has only just begun.

Others would rely on Mapi Leon, Graham Hansen, Aitana Bonmati, and Alexia Putellas from the bench to reward royalty. But Saturday afternoon was Patricia Guijarro's afternoon. Her two goals inspired a phenomenal comeback for the Catalonians. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author