Barcelona 5-1 Roma (6-1 agg)
Barcelona cruised into the last four of the Women’s Champions League for the fifth straight year by routing Roma 5-1 in the second leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday.
Barcelona advanced 6-1 on aggregate and will face defending champion Lyon or Chelsea in April’s semifinals: Lyon defeated Barcelona 3-1 in last year’s final.
Fridolina Rolfö scored twice in the first half and Mapi León added another to make it 3-0 by the break. Asisat Oshoala and Patri Guijarro scored two more shortly after interval before Annamaria Serturini netted a fine consolation goal for Roma.
After winning the opening leg 1-0 at Stadio Olimpico in Rome in front of a record-setting crowd of 39,454, Barcelona dominated from the start at Camp Nou. Oshoala knocked down a cross for unmarked Rolfö in the 11th minute to fire in a low shot from 10 yards to double the aggregate lead.
Just after the half-hour mark, León unleashed an unstoppable left-footed drive from well outside the area that gave diving Roma goalkeeper Camelia Ceasar no chance. In first-half stoppage time, Caroline Graham Hansen broke down the right to provide a precise cross for Rolfö at the far post to tap in her second.
Just seconds in the second half, Aitana Bonmatí presented another perfectly timed cross from the right for Oshoala to make it 4-0 from close range. And minutes later, Guijarro headed in Hansen’s corner for the fifth.
Righto, that’s us done for now, but please check back – here or on the main bit of the site – for our report. And in the meantime, wade right into this. Oooh yeah!
