Normalising the extraordinary. Even in their “worst season”, Barcelona are going for a second quadruple in a row and fourth consecutive Women’s Champions League title. Few may have predicted that late last year, after adefeat at Manchester Cityprompted a new narrative: this was the season they were finally not going to win anything.
In the end, they won the Liga F title but only after losing twice. That may not sound terrible but it is the first time since the 2018-19 season they have been defeated more than once in the league. So a crisis of some sort. The loss at City also prompted some soul-searching for a team in their first season with a new manager, Pere Romeureplacing Jonatan Giráldezlast summer.
“It’s been an emotional season,” the Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen says. “We lost a couple of more games than we’re used to and we’ve lost some games that hurt more than others. We weren’t good enough but I think the criticism was a bit too harsh given how we were actually playing.
“Our performance at that moment [around the City defeat] wasn’t good enough and everyone recognised that. I did that individually and we did as a team. We’ve just been working since then to make ourselves better and you get to the moments that matter, and we’ve performed when it matters. Let’s see if we can finish the season on the highest high.”
Performed when it mattered is perhaps an understatement from the Norwegian. Theydestroyed Wolfsburg 10-2 on aggregatein the Champions League quarter-finals before beating a resurgent Chelsea – undefeated in the WSL all season –8-2 over two legsin the semis.
“We don’t get tired of winning,” Graham Hansen adds. “You know it’s impossible to win everything all the time so at the beginning of each season you start with the dream to try to do it again. Plus the second time is always tougher because when you do it once, it’s difficult to do it again.”
Saturday’s final sees them face Arsenal, a team they haven’t played since 2021 but a rival that has a similar football background with possession-based, Dutch-inspired football. “It’s a good Arsenal team,” says Graham Hansen. “They are a team that like to dominate the ball like we do but I believe we will dominate the ball more. At least I hope so, they are a strong team so maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see.”
Of the four players at the top of the Champions League goalscoring charts, two are from Barcelona (Clàudia Pina with 10 and Ewa Pajor with six) and two are from Arsenal (Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey with seven each). Barcelona are favourites but Arsenal proved in the semi-final against Lyon –winning the away leg 4-1havinglost at home– that they are not afraid of being the underdogs.
“It’s nice to have another team that we haven’t played in a final yet,” Graham Hansen says. “It’s been a team that have shown high standards in the Champions League and it’s going to be a tough game. It’s a final, you just have to be prepared to leave your heart and soul out there and see who the better team on the day will be. Finals are never easy but that’s what makes them fun.”
Apart from the change in manager, the Poland forward Pajor arriving was the biggest change from last season for the club. The departures of Jenni Hermoso and Asisat Oshoala had left Barcelona without a proper No 9 and relying from goals from elsewhere on the pitch.
The likes of Graham Hansen, Alexia Putellas and Caldentey were tasked with adding more goals but the inclusion of Pajor in the team has altered the team’s style of play once again with a focus on having a dynamic striker inside the box. Pajor finished top goalscorer of the league with 25 goals in 28 matches (as well as supplying 10 assists) and knows how to scorein a Champions League finalfrom her time at Wolfsburg.
In his first season Romeu could achieve one of the hardest feats in football: a quadruple. To the naked eye it may look like the Barcelona players can play the games on their own, without much guidance from the sidelines, but they have praised Romeu’s impact since taking over.
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With many players only having two weeks’ holiday between the Olympics and pre-season, he 32-year-old had to manage their workload to avoid fatigue and burnout while still trying to maintain a standard of performance everyone is expecting from his squad.
“I think that was the biggest challenge for him,” says Graham Hansen. “Where most players come back to pre-season fresh and motivated, we add on another year where we’re just more tired. Players had to use the start of the season, already competing, to recover from the summer. But the coaching staff have done well to listen to us, listen to our needs and we’ve responded with great work.
“I came to Barcelona confident that I would win one Champions League – and now I’ve won three of them. I didn’t imagine it would happen like this when I came here and hopefully, on Saturday, I can add one more.”
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