Barcelona and Wolfsburg meet in Women’s Champions League closing

Both groups within the Women’s Champions League closing have one thing to show.

Barcelona was eyeing back-to-back titles final 12 months earlier than being upended by Lyon. Two-time champion Wolfsburg has misplaced the final 3 times it made it this far. They will meet Saturday at PSV Stadium within the Dutch metropolis of Eindhoven.

It’s the third closing in a row for Barcelona and fourth previously 5 years. The Catalan membership routed Chelsea 4-0 in 2021 to grow to be the primary crew from Spain to win the title.

“I think we need to appreciate what reaching our fourth final means because the road has not been easy,” Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí informed The Associated Press. “When you look back at the teams we have beaten and everything we have won you have to give it the merit it deserves.”

POPP TIME

Wolfsburg ahead Alexandra Popp led the German league in scoring with 16 objectives after serving to her nationwide crew attain the ultimate of the European Championship. This shall be her seventh Champions League closing. She was a teen on Duisburg’s championship crew in 2009 earlier than becoming a member of Wolfsburg and serving to the “She-Wolves” win the trophy in 2013 and 2014.

PHOTOS: Barcelona and Wolfsburg meet in Women’s Champions League closing

The 32-year-old Popp has a knack for the massive second. Her 88th-minute objective despatched the 2016 closing to further time, although Lyon received on penalties. She netted in a 3-1 loss to the French crew within the 2020 decider. Her purple card within the 2018 closing proved pricey in a 4-1 loss – additionally to Lyon.

Ewa Pajor is the European competitors’s main scorer with eight objectives. Wolfsburg had 5 completely different scorers within the two legs of its combination 5-4 semifinal win over Arsenal.

PUTELLAS FACTOR

Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas is again from her ACL harm, however the Barcelona midfielder has but to start out a recreation since her return. She got here off the bench in every of the final six Spanish league video games and scored in Barcelona’s season finale.

Barcelona must also have defender Lucy Bronze and ahead Fridolina Rolfö out there after each missed time with knee issues.

Bonmatí is a prime playmaker – main the Champions League with seven assists – however she’s additionally medical in entrance of objective. She and teammate Asisat Oshoala have netted 5 occasions, which is tied for second-most within the competitors.

Caroline Graham Hansen, who like Rolfö is a former Wolfsburg participant, scored each objectives in Barcelona’s 2-1 combination semifinal win over Chelsea.

SELL OUT

PSV Stadium has offered out, although capability is just 34,100. It ought to set a Dutch file for a ladies’s recreation which stands at 30,640 in the identical venue in 2019 when the nationwide crew hosted Australia.

A superb signal for the well being of girls’s membership soccer is that each groups have picked up an allocation of greater than 4,500 for their very own supporters. That’s “far more than ever before,” mentioned Nadine Kessler, the UEFA managing director of girls’s soccer.

Just over a 12 months in the past, Camp Nou broke its personal world file for a ladies’s soccer match when greater than 91,600 followers turned out for Barcelona’s 5-1 rout of Wolfsburg within the first leg of the semifinals. Wolfsburg received the second leg 2-0 however Barcelona superior 5-3 on combination.

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