So Barça are in the final once more, where they will play Lyon or PSG on 21 May in Turin. But that was a long way from being the procession or nonevent we might have feared. Pajor and Jonsdottir in particular were tirelessly excellent for a Wolfsburg team who found more openings as the match progressed. Barcelona were never at their best but even their characteristic poise and control deserted them at times in the second half. Nonetheless, they remain favourites to retain their crown.
Who will face them? To find out, go here, where Rob Smyth will take you through a well-poised second leg between PSG and Lyon. There’s much to look forward to. Thanks for following. Bye.
Full-time: Wolfsburg 2-0 Barcelona (agg 3-5)
Barcelona have lost a match for the first time all season but they’re through to the Champions League final on aggregate. Wolfsburg exit with pride after a magnificently assertive second-half performance.
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90+5 mins: The consequent Barca free-kick is cleared and Jonsdottir embarks on a lungbusting length-of-the-pitch run that requires some last-ditch defence to deny here.
90+4 mins: Booking: Rauch for a foul on Putellas.
90+3 mins: Putellas gets clear as Wolfsburg are caught up field, keeper and all, but Wolfsburg harry back magnificently to knock her out of her stride.
90+2 mins: Pajor gets clear again down the right but doesn’t have, or see, what support she has and skews her cross out for a throw on the other side.
90 mins: We’ll have five added minutes as there’s a booking for one of Wolfsburg’s coaching team, not sure who.
89 mins: Brilliant again from Pajor, raiding down the right, cutting in and sending a low shot towards the near post that Panos has to turn behind for a corner. The first one is headed straight behind for another, which prompts an almighty goalmouth scramble and another corner. This one culminates in Huth striking high and wide. Excellent pressure though.
87 mins: Pajor escapes down the right and her searching deep cross finds Wassmuth but she can’t get enough power on her header.
86 mins: Pajor continues to be a menace and wins a free-kick after Mapi Leon can’t stop her legally. But the free-kick comes to nothing as Wassmuth is penalised for a foul on Oshoala.
84 mins: Subs: for Barca – Bonmarti off for Ingrid Engen, Hansen off for Pina; for Wolfsburg – Wilms off, Bremer on
83 mins: PMore from Wolfsburg: Pajor crosses to Huth, who’s in a promising position inside the area but can’t quite set herself for the shot, but the openings continue.
80 mins: We’re at that stage of the game where players are more prepared to have a go from distance, and Janssen piledrives one from 35 yards but it’s way too high. But Wolfsburg are coming again here …
79 mins: Another Barca chance, a fine cross from the left is headed wide by Hansen, but it took a deflection and it’s a corner that Wolfsburg clear and break from, but Wassmuth wastes the chance to put Pajor in.
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77 mins: Caldentey fizzes a low cross across the six-yard box, it’s cleared only to Bonmarti who leathers it way over the bar.
75 mins: It’s striking how much less space Barca have found in the middle of the pitch in this half, as demonstrated when Graham Hansen’s fine run feeds Quahabi, who’s hustled off the ball by the ever-industrious Jonsdottir.
73 mins: Putellas, who’s been incredibly quiet this half, skips down the right but is denied sufficient space to get a decent cross in, and only manages a mediocre one, which Schult gathers
71 mins: Goals stat:
🔟 goals in 🔟 #UWCL games for Tabea Wassmuth...
— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) April 30, 2022
🤩 The Wolfsburg forward is now the joint highest scorer in the competition this season along with Alexia Putellas. https://t.co/aDaipf2ZzQ pic.twitter.com/hPhwpF6Sqy
70 mins: Barcelona are beginning to regain their foothold now, sensing that Wolfsburg might give them some space as they press further forward.
68 mins: Oshoala, just on as a sub for Hermoso, drives forward for Barca on the right but her cross has no one waiting for it but in the next phase Caldentey has a chance on the left but her shot is deflected over for a corner.
66 mins: Barcelona sub: Rolfo off, Quahabi on.
64 mins: This is a proper competitive tie now, tackles are flying in, heads look a bit scrambled. Barcelona are human after all. They’re not used to this.
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62 mins: Wolfsburg booking: Huth is booked for chopping down the newly arrived Caldentey, as Roord is subbed off for Popp, immediately after scoring. The free-kick comes to nothing.
61 mins: ANOTHER Wolfsburg chance! The excellent Pajor gets clear on the right after regaining possession but her low angled shot is saved
Updated
Goal! Wolfsburg 2-0 Barcelona (Roord 59)
Now what?! Roord gets rare space and time for a foray forward and then belts a firm shot past a possibly unsighted Panos into the left-hand corner. Game on?
Updated
58 mins: Barca sub: Caldentey on for Crnogoroevic
Booking: Hermoso for encroachment, obstruction and general bother to the keeper Schult
57 mins: Wolfsburg win another free-kick in a dangerous central position but Rauch dobs it innocuously into Panos’s hands.
55 mins: Another Wolfsburg chance: lovely skill by Jonsdottir who gets away down the right and pulls it back for Pajor whose shot is blocked and cleared by Paredes six yards out. Barca are ruffle-able suddenly.
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54 mins: And no sooner do I say that than Bonmati is effortlessly put clear on the left and her angled shot needs to be well saved by Schult.
52 mins: There’s been an encouraging spark and bite to Wolfsburg’s play since half-time – territorially, they’re on top.
50 mins: Hendrich has a potshot too after Hermoso’s headed clearance drops kindly for her but the volley is too high.
50 mins: Wolsfburg, tails up, knock it long for Pajor, who wins a through on the right after a tackle by Paredes. The long throw from Jonsdottir causes some consternation in the Barca back line and needs to be punched clear by Panos. Just a smidegeon of discomfort in the ranks of the champions here.
Goal! Wolfsburg 1-0 Barcelona (Wassmuth 48)
Wolfsburg win a rare free-kick midway inside Barcelona’s half, it’s played into the box, Barca can’t clear and it sits up nicely outside the area for Wassmuth, whose crisp low shot takes a slight deflection en route to the net. BARCELONA ARE LOSING A GAME OF FOOTBALL!
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Peep! Wolfsburg resume, no sign of any subs that I can see.
The players are coming back out as the cameras pan across to the Germany coach, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, in the stands. With the Euros coming up, there’s plenty to play for for these players, even if the outcome of the tie looks settled. We’ve got an exciting summer to look forward to.
Half-time: Wolfsburg 0-0 Barcelona (1-5 agg)
The Welsh official Cheryl Foster adds on precisely 0.05secs of injury time and that’s our lot for the first half. Barcelona have, predictably, enjoyed most of the possession but haven’t been at their sharpest against a Wolfsburg side who’ve defended and kept their shape well, and had the odd sniff on the counter, but there’s little to suggest a miraculous turnaround. See you in 10 minutes or so.
44 mins: It’s all Barcelona now and Rolfo blooters another left-foot volley wide and high after a diagonal ball to her on the left.
43 mins: Big Barca chance – a lovely ball in from Bonmati on the right finds Crnogoroevcic in acres of space and her firm shot is just over.
Updated
42 mins: Bonmati, Putellas and Hermoso combine smartly on the edge of the area and when the latter gets clear on the left, Wolfsburg have to concede another corner. From which Graham Hansen eventually marauds clear to the left byline but her cross across the face of goal somehow deflected away.
38 mins: That chance has livened the crowd up anyway – a decent old racket is now being made – as Graham Hansen wins Barcelona’s second corner on the right. She takes it herself, it’s met by a sharp angled header from Rolfo to the far post where Patri’s effort is turned behind for another corner that comes to nowt.
Updated
34 mins: Big Wolfsburg chance! Pajor robs Bonmati, forages forward and slips a lovely reverse pass into the path of Roord, and the former Arsenal player’s low shot is grasped by Panos. Best chance either side has had, to be honest. And perhaps Roord could have done better.
33 mins: Barca win their first corner, after some slightly careless defending, and it’s played to the edge of the area by Rolfo for Paredes whose firm drive needs to be well held by Schult in goal.
31 mins: Every now and then, Wolfsburg get in behind the Barcelona defence, usually through longer balls in behind and Pajor skips clear from one such on the inside right before Paredes gets back and snuffs out the danger.
29 mins: Wolfsburg break from a Barcelona free-kick that breaks down when a challenge on Putellas that the visitor think is a foul is not punished but Jonsdottir is hopelessly outnumbered down the left and is harried out of possession.
28 mins: Wolfsburg have some enterprise when they get the ball but they don’t have the options or guile that Barca have. And they’re beginning to concede niggly free-kicks.
23 mins: Huth, Wolfsburg’s brightest spark thus far, concedes a free-kick for hauling back Bonmati but Mapi Leon’s delivery is poor and lobbed into the hands of Schult.
22 mins: Bonmati has been everywhere so far, and she skips down the right before playing a clever cross back for Putellas, whose smart footwork is foiled by Wolfsburg having three players crowding her out and clearing.
21 mins: Huth breaks for Wolfsburg, seizing on a rare mistake and driving forward throigh the middle for 40 yards before playing Pajor in to her left but she’s dispossessed. And Barcelona clear the danger.
Updated
18 mins: Putellas sand-wedges a chip through to Rolfo on the left hand edge of the area but her shot is too high. And so it continues.
16 mins: Bonmati feeds Graham Hansen on the right whose cross is cleared by Wilms against a Wolfsburg hand but penalty appeals are waved away.
15 mins: Some deft skill from Rolfo gets her past Jonsdottir by the left byline but her cross sails over both keeper and teammates.
13 mins: Bonmarti finds a pocket of space to put Crnogoroevcic clear on the left but again Wolfsburg hustle and hassle back to clear. But possession imbalances beginning to show. The visitors have the ball, most of the time.
11 mins: Wolfsburg haven’t been pulled this way and that as they were in the first leg – yet - but those passing patterns are picking up pace and menace. The German side have been compact thus far though.
8 mins: Wolfsburg play it out patiently from the back in the face of Barcelona’s relentless press and a searching ball almost gets Jonsdottir clear on the right but she can’t bring it fully under control and Barca clear.
Updated
7 mins: Two chances in quick succession for the visitors, Bonmarti then Hermosa being played in in central positions but first Huth clears then Schult saves.
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6 mins: Barca win a throw in a dangerous position on the right, it’s worked out right before Alexia is played in for her first opening but is well hustled out for a goalkick.
3 mins: And Wolfsburg break down the other end and nearly score! A cross from the right is met by Wassmuth’s header which has to be cleared off the line. They found some joy on the right there, the hosts.
2 mins: unlike at the Camp Nou Wolfsburg get through the first two minutes without conceding, but Barca monopolise possession and get a half-chance when Graham Hansen gets clear on the right but her cross is just behind the striker.
Peep! And Barcelona get us under way
Here come the teams …
There’s a decent atmosphere in the Wolfsburg Arena, and a fair smattering of visiting support – this has been a team worth travelling distances to see of late, of course.
Some pre-match reading: here’s our latest Moving The Goalposts newsletter, in which Sophie Downey looks at how the Cape Town club Badgers Academy are empowering girls and women in the community:
And you can sign up here to receive it in your inbox every week.
Meanwhile, as the WSL title race goes to the wire, Suzanne Wrack has been chatting to Arsenal’s manager, Jonas Eidevall.
Some pre-match chatter from the managers. Wolfsburg’s Tommy Stroot is demanding more from his side than they showed at the Camp Nou. “We are preparing for a game in which we want to show a different face,” he said. “We want to give it everything, regardless of the result. We want to get into the game in a completely different way.”
Barça’s Jonatan Giráldez, ominously, thinks they can still get better. “We must be able to start the game well as we did at Camp Nou. Even beyond the result there are always aspects to improve.”
The teams
Wolfsburg are again without Lena Oberdorf and also have Rebecka Blomqvist absent after her first-leg injury, and they line up like thus:
So starten die Wölfinnen ins @UWCL-Halbfinal-Rückspiel! 👑
— VfL Wolfsburg Frauen (@VfL_Frauen) April 30, 2022
🏟➡ https://t.co/niAdqQ3Uxi
📺➡ @DAZNFootball und YouTube (https://t.co/J54ttjlX6F)
📻➡ https://t.co/UiQYrfgDmi#WOBBAR #UWCL #VfLWolfsburg pic.twitter.com/1GS3eNlciy
And here’s Barcelona’s starting XI:
1️⃣1️⃣ #FCBFemeni OFICIAL #WolfsburgBarça
— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) April 30, 2022
👌 @stanleytools
💙❤️ #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/7nwOtSxesY
Preamble
Barcelona are, by a distance, the best team in Europe. Even in the rigidly stratified world of modern elite football – both women’s and men’s – it is rare for such a statement about a team to be unarguable, but in the past couple of seasons Barça have become Harlem Globetrotter-esque standard-setters, dazzling and unstoppable in equal parts. They are 5-1 up against a storied Wolfsburg team, who lead the Frauen Bundesliga having won 16 of their 19 German top-flight games this season. All of which counted for diddly in the first leg, but which should give them some confidence and boldness going into the second leg at the Wolfsburg Arena, for which 20,000 tickets have been sold. They’ve also won this competition more than Barcelona have, for what it’s worth. Which isn’t likely to be much in the face of the visitors’ winning juggernaut. But let’s see anyway, and sit back and enjoy.
Kick-off 5pm BST.
