Lucy Bronze is impressed by the poor start and helped Barcelona win the Champions League in the Netherlands. Credit: Reuters/Yves Harman Barcelona 3 Wolfsburg 2 England star Lucy Bronze says the world saw a new side of Barcelona as they dug deep and fought back against Wolfsburg 2-0 to win an unforgettable women's final Champions League as she and England teammate Kyra Walsh rejoiced at lifting the European title in their first season with the Catalan club.
Right-back Bronze, who became the first Englishwoman to win the Women's Champions League with two different clubs as she won the trophy for the fourth time in her career, underwent knee surgery in April and said: «I'm always hungry to win trophies, so there's no better stage.» which you want to go. Having undergone surgery, like me, I was fully focused on getting back to the final because that was the reason I came to the club.”
Lost 2-0 at half-time and expecting a shock defeat, Barcelona fought back tenaciously, scoring two goals in two minutes from Spain's Patricia Guijarro shortly after the restart, before Sweden's Fridolina Rolfo took advantage of Wolfsburg's poor defense to end the match. a dramatic twist with 20 minutes left.
Bronze, who joked that she and Walsh didn't actually know the words to all the Spanish holiday songs in the dressing room, added: «We always believed we could come back and I I think it showed a different side of Barcelona that we've never seen before, where we had the mentality to come back, there aren't many teams that can do that.»
Deep midfielder Walsh, who signed for Barcelona last September from Manchester City for a record transfer fee for women, added: I'm just very happy. The way we did it made it a little more special.”
Although initially everything could be different. The Liones right-back bronze got off to a bit of a nightmare because she was responsible for Wolfsburg's first goal, allowing Eva Payor to steal the ball from her just outside the penalty area, with the Germany forward scoring the goal. Germany's Alexandra Popp doubled her lead with a textbook headline.
Kira Walsh celebrates the Champions League victory at the end of the international midfielder's brilliant ad campaign England. Photo: Getty Images/Catherine Ivill
After recovering from her mistake, Bronza added: «This is my first game since the operation, it's not exactly an excuse, but yes, the field was a bit drier than I expected, but I mean everyone makes mistakes and that was early in the game. and I'm grateful to be on such a good team that we can still go on and win games like this. You just have to live with it, it happens.”
England manager Sarina Wigman also attended the final in her home country and brought the trophy to the pitch before kick-off. , and it was the first sold-out final in the history of this contest.
Barcelona fans were vastly outnumbered by their German counterparts in the bustling Eindhoven city center before the game and in the stadium, and after their grief from defeat in Turin a year ago, they must have dreaded another day to forget when they lost 2-0. but their team rallied perfectly.
For two-time European champions Wolfsburg, who knocked out Arsenal after extra time in the semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium on 1 May and finished two points behind German champions Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga despite 19 wins over their 22 games in the league this semester ended in a crushing disappointment.
The result also ensured Chelsea Women's Super League champions a guaranteed place in next season's Women's Champions League group stage. The English league winners would have to qualify for the second qualifying round in September if Wolfsburg were to win the title, due to England being fourth in the UEFA ranking coefficient, but because Barcelona automatically earns a place in the group stage as reigning champions. and also for being league winner in Spain, that spot now goes to Emma Hayes's side.
Match details
Barcelona (4-3-3): Panos 6; Bronze 5, Paredes 6, Leon 6, Rolfo 7; Bonmati 6 (Putellas 6, 90), Walsh 7 (Engen 89), Guijarro 8; Graeme Hansen, 7 (Crnogorcevic, 6, 79), Paralluelo, 6 (Geisse, 6, 70), Kaldentei, 6 (Pina, 6, 79) Unused subs: Call (GK), Codina Panedas, Fernandez, Torrejon, Putellas, Vilamala, Rabano, Syrstad Engen, Vicky Lope
Yellow cards: Bonmati, Paredes
Wolfsburg (4-2-1-3): Froms (gk) 5; Wilms 6 (Hegering 6, 84), Hendrich 5, Janssen 6, Rauch 6; Oberdorf 7, Roord 6 (Lattwein 6, 72); Huth 7; Jonsdottir 7, Payor 7 (Bremer 5, 84), Popp 7 />Yellow cards: Hendrich, Popp, Johnsdottir
Referee: Cheryl Foster (Wales)
Attendance: 33,147
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