{"id":89747,"date":"2026-05-03T18:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/barcelona-win-over-bayern-sets-up-giraldez-clash-in-uwcl-final\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T18:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:42:31","slug":"barcelona-win-over-bayern-sets-up-giraldez-clash-in-uwcl-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/barcelona-win-over-bayern-sets-up-giraldez-clash-in-uwcl-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona win over Bayern sets up Gir\u00e1ldez clash in UWCL final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>BARCELONA &#8212; Barcelona set up a fascinating showdown with former coach Jonatan Gir\u00e1ldez and his OL Lyonnes side in Oslo after weathering a late Bayern Munich storm at Camp Nou on Sunday to win their semifinal second leg 4-2, and the tie 5-3 on aggregate, to book their place in a sixth successive Champions League final.<\/p>\n<p>After drawing 1-1 in Munich last week, three-time winners Bar\u00e7a looked on track for a place in the final on May 23 when Alexia Putellas&#8217; second goal of the afternoon gave them a 4-1 lead on the day over Bayern.<\/p>\n<p>Everything had come together in a near-perfect first hour for Pere Romeu&#8217;s team. Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo looked unstoppable on the wings, Ewa Pajor carried her usual goal threat, Putellas was popping up at all the right moments and Aitana Bonmat\u00ed came off the bench to make her first appearance since breaking her leg in November. Gir\u00e1ldez, who was in charge of Bar\u00e7a when they beat Lyonnes in the 2024 final, would have been wondering just how to beat his former side, who are now unbeaten across 31 games in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>However, the final 30 minutes showed that Bar\u00e7a, who lost last year&#8217;s final to Arsenal, can be vulnerable. Bayern, themselves unbeaten in 29 matches heading into Sunday&#8217;s game since losing 7-1 to Bar\u00e7a back in October really put the home side under pressure. So much so, in fact, that coach Jos\u00e9 Barcala might question why he didn&#8217;t send his team on the attack far sooner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211; Ranking the top 20 best women&#8217;s club managers in the world<br \/>&#8211; Keogh: Dumornay&#8217;s return sends Lyonnes to another final<br \/>&#8211; Lindop: Man City&#8217;s late win issues WSL title statement to Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Putellas&#8217; second goal finally sparked Bayern into life. Pernille Harder pulled one back in the 71st minute, and what followed was an onslaught from the German champions: they hit the bar twice, had a goal disallowed for a foul in the buildup and saw countless shots either blocked by defenders or saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Cata Coll. They went out swinging.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right now, it&#8217;s too painful,&#8221; Bayern&#8217;s Giulia Gwinn said. &#8220;I know we can be proud, but that feeling will come with time. We had chances, hit the woodwork twice &#8212; for me, I&#8217;m not able to explain why the goal was chalked off. There&#8217;s plenty of frustration as we had the feeling we were still in it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of the tie, though, Bar\u00e7a were the better side &#8212; and especially on Sunday. They racked up 23 shots to Bayern&#8217;s 12 and an xG of 3.25 to their opponent&#8217;s 0.99. It was only 2-1 at halftime, but the lead could quite easily have been four or five.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona can now resume their rivalry with eight-time winners Lyonnes, the other dominant force in women&#8217;s football in Europe over the last decade, albeit with a captivating twist: This time, they&#8217;re up against Gir\u00e1ldez.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">All of ESPN. All in one place.<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"imageLoaded\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/photo\/2025\/0813\/r1531432_1296x729_16-9.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Watch your favorite events in the newly enhanced ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. <b>Sign Up Now<\/b><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Current Bar\u00e7a coach Romeu was part of Gir\u00e1ldez&#8217;s coaching staff when he was in charge of the Catalans between 2021 and 2024. During that period, Bar\u00e7a won back-to-back Champions Leagues in 2023 and 2024. They have yet to scale Europe&#8217;s summit since Gir\u00e1ldez&#8217;s departure for the Washington Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>There was great surprise at Bar\u00e7a to see Gir\u00e1ldez back in Europe so soon, leaving the Spirit for Lyonnes after just a year in the United States. It will add spice to a fixture that already had plenty.<\/p>\n<p>It will be the fourth final between the two teams. The French side was victorious in 2019 and 2022, exerting its dominance over Bar\u00e7a in the process, but Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s win in Bilbao in 2024 appeared to signal a changing of the guard. Before, Bar\u00e7a felt like the challenger to the throne; now, both teams feel like they are No. 1. The final in Oslo on May 23 will help determine who really is the ruling force in the women&#8217;s game right now.<\/p>\n<p>Bar\u00e7a certainly staked their case in the opening minutes against Bayern. Freed from the shackles of the suspended Franziska Kett, sent off in the first leg, Graham Hansen was sensational in the early exchanges here, setting up chance after chance. It was no surprise to see her brilliant cross lead to the opener for Paralluelo in the 13th minute.<\/p>\n<p>Bayern briefly silenced the crowd of 60,000 at Camp Nou by equalizing four minutes later, as woeful Bar\u00e7a defending allowed Harder to set up Linda Dallmann. But Bayern&#8217;s joy was short-lived.<\/p>\n<p>Captain Putellas had already come close when a loose ball dropped to her in the box. She duly dispatched the ball past Ena Mahmutovic, delivering her customary bow in the corner to celebrate in front of the adoring public. It marked her eighth straight home game in the competition with a goal contribution.<\/p>\n<p>There could have been more Bar\u00e7a goals before the break &#8212; Esmee Brugts was especially wasteful &#8212; but they soon took the game away from Bayern in the second half.<\/p>\n<p>Paralluelo had been a slightly surprising pick ahead of Cl\u00e0udia Pina, but she delivered arguably her best performance of the season, justifying Romeu&#8217;s decision. She delivered the assist for Pajor to make it 3-1, a fine cross from the left in the 54th minute.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0503%2Fr1652894_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0503%2Fr1652894_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0503%2Fr1652894_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0503%2Fr1652894_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Barcelona got off to a fast start, with Salma Paralluelo scoring in the 13th minute.\u00a0<cite>Juanma &#8211; UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Four minutes later, via a brilliantly deft finish, Putellas extended the lead. She leads the way in the Champions League this season with 14 goal contributions &#8212; eight goals and six assists. She also, notably, now has 233 Bar\u00e7a goals, according to ESPN Global Soccer Research, moving her past C\u00e9sar Rodr\u00edguez as the club&#8217;s second-leading scorer of all time across both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s teams. Only Lionel Messi (672) has more.<\/p>\n<p>She is as important to Bar\u00e7a as her contract situation is worrying. Her terms expire this summer and there is still no sign of a renewal agreement. Her reaction as she was substituted late in the game suggested she was not 100% sure whether she will get the chance to pull on the Bar\u00e7a shirt at Camp Nou again.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">STREAM FUTBOL W ON ESPN+<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/photo\/2024\/1029\/r1407524_576x324_16-9.jpg\" class=\"round lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ali Krieger, Cristina Alexander and Jeff Kassouf debate the biggest storylines and break down the best highlights from women&#8217;s soccer in the Americas. <b>Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only)<\/b><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Bonmat\u00ed, meanwhile, was back in a Bar\u00e7a shirt for the first time since November, coming off the bench just as Bayern began to throw caution to the wind. She won&#8217;t have enjoyed some of the chances the German champions created, but she will be delighted to be back on the pitch with Champions League and Copa de la Reina finals to come and Bar\u00e7a targeting a quadruple.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To reach six finals in a row is genuinely crazy,&#8221; Bonmat\u00ed told Disney+. &#8220;We are normalizing something which is absolutely not normal. It says everything about the ambition of this team to keep the bar so high.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now for Lyonnes, who for me are always the team to beat and the team we looked to when we were nothing and wanted to reach their level, which we achieved.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And what about Gir\u00e1ldez, the man who played a part in helping Bar\u00e7a reach that level and now stands in the way of a fourth European crown?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am grateful to Jonatan for everything he did for me as a player, but now we are rivals,&#8221; Bonmat\u00ed added. &#8220;We are only thinking about winning that trophy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BARCELONA &#8212; Barcelona set up a fascinating showdown with former coach Jonatan Gir\u00e1ldez and his OL Lyonnes side in Oslo after weathering a late Bayern Munich storm at Camp Nou on Sunday to win their semifinal second leg 4-2, and the tie 5-3 on aggregate, to book their place in a sixth successive Champions League [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-transfers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/r1652894_1296x729_16-9.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}