Barça falls in Manchester and already knows that it will be necessary to sweat to revalidate the women’s Champions League (2-0)

BarcelonaThe road from Bilbao to Lisbon will be uphill. To repeat the success achieved in the Basque Country a few months ago in the final of Portugal, it will be necessary to grind a lot of stone. When you’re the best team and you’ve had enough of winning, it’s your turn to shoulder the burden of being a big game piece: everyone wants to beat you. In their debut in the 2024/25 Champions League, Barça suffered a painful defeat at Manchester City (2-0). It will be necessary to lift the flight and improve the game in the next matches, after a first half in which the English were clearly superior. In the second, when the Blaugrana team seemed to be on the verge of equalizing, a British strike cut the wings of a team that had not lost a game for several months. The last stumble was on April 20, at home against Chelsea (0-1). The last defeat in the group stage, one two years ago against Bayern.

Pere Romeu, who was debuting as a coach in the Champions League, went out with Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí folded in the middle of the field, the highest part of a cube with which it was intended to control the game. But it hasn’t budged. Manchester City, after losing the English league last season due to goal difference, came out with a very high pressure that stifled the Blaugrana game. Despite a first Catalan approach in the first minutes, with a shot by Alexia and a yellow card on the Catalan defense of the English team, Laia Aleixandri, Barça could not overcome the British pressure. The ball did not last long for Barça, who always suffered in defense, especially with the runs of the Jamaican Khadija Bunny Shaw, stopped at times with fouls such as one that ended with María León booked. Ona Batlle, who was returning to the city where he lived when he played for Manchester United, has suffered with Lauren Hemp’s internships. Cata Coll, cold on her feet when she was pressed inside the area, avoided two English goals with good saves, but on the half hour mark a badly defended corner allowed the Layzell side to score the first English goal. Caroline Graham Hansen, after a good assist from Aitana, could have equalized, but Japanese international goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita was well placed. The goal has woken up Barça, who have improved the circulation of the ball before the break, with the first details of quality from a Keira Walsh cheered by the local fans, as she played for many years at City. If in the last League match Barça went to the half-time with 1-0 in the field of Madrid CCF in an unfair way, because of an illegal goal, in Manchester too, but this time deservedly so. The English had 10 shots on goal at the break. Massa, if you want to revalidate the title.

Reaction without result

In the second half, Barça finally took control of the match. City, which had managed to impose its law, has become smaller, limiting itself to defending. The ball was always at the feet of a Barça team that controlled possession and rhythm and had enough of kicking but without aiming. Yamashita had his days citizens they managed to block every attempt by Aitana, the most active, and Clàudia Pina who came in to revolutionize the match. But when the tie seemed closer, an English counter arrived with the Jamaican Shaw, all legs, teasing the defense and Cata Coll to make it 2-0. The power of the Caribbean has cracked the defense of a team that was already taking a lot of risks, because it was only thinking of a draw. In the end, Pere Romeu’s changes have not even served to reduce differences. In fact, in the end the coach has protected some starters by giving minutes to youngsters like Vicky and Kika to see if they managed to work the miracle.

On October 16, Barça will host the Swedes from Hammarby in a match in which they will have to react. The team from the south of Stockholm won 2-0 against the Austrians from Saint Pölten in the other game of the group. Barça will have to show who is in charge, then.