Our report from the action at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano
Our report on tonight's other game
Full-time: Real 1-3 Barcelona
Barcelona have the expected first-leg lead but getting it was far harder than anticipated. Real got into them in the first half and deservedly went in front. The game turned in the second half when Barcelona were awarded a debatable penalty. They worked a nice winning goal through Pina after that and will expect to prevail in the second leg at the Nou Camp, for which 90,000 tickets have been sold. But Real showed enough spirit and savviness today to suggest a shock is not totally out of the question they might at least score again in the second leg.
GOAL! Real 1-3 Barcelona (Alexia Putellas 90+4)
A deadly counter-attack concludes with Putellas clipping the ball over the advancing keeper. Harsh on Real but a slick finish.
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89 min: A vicious inswinging corner by Barcelona. Three players jump for it; it’s not clear who it comes off but the it’s heading towards the goal until the keeper makes an instinctive block and the reaches out a hand to tidy up by flipping the ball over the bar.
88 min: Abelleira curls over a freekick from the left. But it’s too long for any Real player and drifts into the welcoming arms of the keeper.
86 min: Barcelona substitution: Engen on, Bonmati off.
85 min: Gonzalez booked for a frustrated chop at her opponent.
Real 1-2 Barcelona (Pina 81)
Pina leads the charge towards the Barcelona box, then she slips the ball wide to Graham Hansen. She crosses low for Bonmati’s whose shot on the spin is blocked. But Pina had carried on her run into the area and the ball breaks to her, and she makes no mistake with a sure-footed finish.
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79 min: Barcelona are patiently trying to pull Real apart. When Graham Hansen’s cross from the right is deflected to the edge of the box, Bonmarti runs on to it and sidefoots a shot over the bar.
77 min: Real substitutions: Robles and Garcia on, Rodriguez off
76 min:
72 min: Barcelona may be starting to wear Real down. The hosts are just a little late into tackles now, a little imprecise in their all-round play. Fortunately for them, Graham Hansen’s latest cross is fractionally too long for the two Barcelona players coming in at the back post.
70 min: Zomoza interrupts an intricate Barcelona attack. Then she pings a long pass towards Gonzalez, who has been excellent on her own up front. But this time she’s can’t muscle her way past two defenders.
68 min: Abelleira booked for a shirt pull.
67 min: Real substitutions: Andres and Moller on, Galvez and Carmona on
65 min: Barcelona substitution: Paredes on, Pereira off
61 min: Graham Hansen skedaddles in-field from the right. She has four teammates in the box waiting for a good delivery. She opts to drill it in but it manages to elude everyone.
60 min: Graham Hansen curls over a beauty. Hermoso stoops to head ... several yards wide.
57 min: If Barcelona thought their equaliser would deflate the hosts, they’ve been proved wrong. Real are still full of energy and looking capable of causing trouble on the counter, especially through Gonzalez.
54 min: Gonzalez, ever the livewire, tries to put Real back in front immediately. But after taking a long pass in her stride, she scoops the ball over from 20 yards.
GOAL Real 1-1 Barcelona (Alexia Putellas pen 53)
The captain sends the keeper the wrong way and runs into the net to retrieve the ball. Barcelona aren’t satisfied with equalising....
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51 min: Penalty! The ref judges that Camona caught Graham Hansen. Real palayers protest, no doubt arguing that the contact was not sufficient to justify the fall, and Svana was covering. But no dice.
48 min: Misa flaps at a cross from the left. Graham Hansen goes for the rebound and tries to turn it into the net but, under pressure from a defender, fails to direct it towards the target. There’s a VAR check to determine whether she was impeded ... and now the ref is trotting over to the sideline to look for herself.
46 min: Barcelona substitution: Pina on, Ouahabi off.
Half-time: Real 1-0 Barcelona
Real have lost every match they’ve ever played against Barcelona and were expected to be walloped today. But so far they’re making a mockery of such predictions: they’ve been more dynamic and smarter than the visitors and deserve their lead. Barcelona are flustered and, although they had spells of pressure, have barely created an opening. Let’s see if Real can keep this up.
43 min: Barcelona move the ball from side to side, probing. But it ends with a hopeful cross into the area, which Misa claims easily.
40 min: Barcelona are in again! Gonzalez races on to a well flighted ball over the top. She takes the shot early, from the left-hand side of the box, about 15 yards out. She hits it low but not as hard as she would have liked ... and Panos gets down to save.
39 min: Zomoza sends over a freekick from the right. Gonzalez gets to it first and then swivels and cracks a fierce shot from 10 yards against he outside of the post. An escape for Barcelona! And a second goal would not have flattered Real: they’re doing a number on their vaunted opponents. For now.
37 min: Carmona is the first Real player into the book, for a messy tackle on Graham Hansen.
36 min: Another booking for a frustrate Barcelona player, Ouahabi taking down her opponent in midfield to stop a counter-attack.
35 min: Barcelona’s first corner of the match is delivered by Graham Hansen straight into the hands of the keeper.
32 min: Del Castillo brings cheers from the crowd with some trickery on the right. Barcelona soon dispossess her but Real are quick to win it back. Then Bonmati - either frustrated or just not able to match the pace injected by Real - arrives late into a tackle on Camona and cops a booking.
29 min: Real relieve the pressure, winning the ball in midfield and then circulating it well. And they almost put Gonzalez through on goal, but she’s pulled back for a tight offside decision.
27 min: Graham Hansen curls over a cross from the right. Hermoso darts in front of the defender but nods wide at the back post.
26 min: Gujarro drills one at goal from 25 yards. Misa keeps her eye on it and gets down to save and hold.
24 min: The pressure from Barcelona is mounting. Real are struggling to get out of their half, or even to get the ball.
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22 min: Alexis jinks her way into the box, beating two opponents as she goes. But the third sees her coming and steps in to relieve her off the ball.
20 min: Barcelona set up camp in the Real half, passing patiently, trying to work openings. But Real aren’t making this easy for them. And when Graham Hansen eventually clips in a cross from the right, Galvez heads it back out.
16 min: Barcelona pierce the Real defence for the first time, releasing Rolfo down the left ... except she’s offside. They’re just not sharp enough so far.
15 min: Real are really putting it to Barcelona physically. They’re getting into them quickly and winning the ball off them frequently. Barcelona are ruffled. But how long can Real keep this up?
13 min: Barcelona are piqued. They’ve quickened the tempo since falling behind and penned Real back into their own half. But the hosts are defending stoutly, giving no hint of an opening.
11 min: Leon thrashes a low cross into the mixer from the right. But Svava, who has started very strongly, intercepts and clears.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Camona 9)
It’s an upset, but deserved! Real have started with real vigour and open the scoring after robbing Alexis in midfield. Gonzalez then took it on, roving through the centre before laying it left to Camona, who took a touch and guided a low shot into the far corner!
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6 min: Svava cuts out Rolfo’s cross from the left and then strides forward, making it deep into the Barcelona half before slipping a pass through to ... a player who’s offside.
4 min: Real settle themselves by knocking the ball around for a solid minute and a bit. They eventually go long for Gonzalez, who can’t wriggle past the last defenders.
2 min: Barcelona are piling the pressure on from the start. Hermoso wins a freekick at the edge of the box, close to the left-hand corner. Leon swings it over to the far post, where Alexia fails to get a true connection.
1 min: Barcelona get the game going. The big question is how long will it take them to score the first goal? “After getting to watch Kim Little in person for a couple of seasons in Seattle, I will always and forever believe anything she has to say,” writes Daniel Stauss in reference to the article linked to below. “She’s one of my all time favourite footballers, just an amazing talent.”
As the cameras pan around the ground in the run-up to kickoff, it picks out a few spectators with placards asking their favourite players to give them their shirts. We are rearing a generation of beggars.
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The Estadio Alfredo Stefano is far from full but there’s a respectable crowd in attendance and an excited atmosphere as the teams stroll on to the pitch.
Today’s first quarter-final has just concluded, and PSG have notched a valuable 2-1 lead to take into the second leg at home.
Kim Little is talking big ahead of Arsenal’s match tomorrow ...
Teams
Real: Misa; Rodriguez, Peter, Galvez, Svava; Abelleira, Zomoza; Del Castilo, Oroz, Carmosa; Gonzalez
Subs: Gerard, A Rodriguez, Robles, Andres, Navarro, Garcia, Florentino, Moller, Duran, Salas
Barcelona: Panos; Torrejon, Pereira, Leon, Ouahabi; Bonmati, Gujarro, Alexia; Hansen, Hermoso, Rolfo
Subs: Font, Munoz, Parades, Serrano, Pina, Engen, Perez, Baradad
Referee: L Lehtovaara (Finland)
Preamble
Hello. Would you like to hear what Suzanne Wrack makes of this particular Champions League quarter-final? Here you go: “The tie of the round on paper will probably be less exciting on the pitch,” wrote Suzanne before I got around to telling her I would be using her blurb to attract readers to this here minute-by-minute report. Bah! “Champions League holders Barcelona are 19 points clear at the top of the Primera División, having scored 136 goals in 24 games without dropping a point. Their record in Europe this season is just as formidable, with 24 goals in six group games and just one conceded – that in a 4-1 home win over Arsenal. Real Madrid, meanwhile, are struggling domestically. Very much in their infancy, with the women’s team acquired in 2019 and rebranded from CD Tacón in 2020, Real sit fifth in the league, two points behind Granadilla Tenerife but with a game in hand over all the teams above. Barcelona have beaten Real each time the two teams have met; most recently the Ballon d’Or winner, Alexia Putellas, scored twice in a 5-0 win for the Catalans. Most exciting will be the attendance for the second leg at the sold-out Camp Nou, where Barcelona’s women’s team are playing for the first time.” So roll up, roll up, read all about it real soon.
