#match reports

congrats to alexia on 500 caps with this club and to this team for such a dominant two legs against real madrid! 🥳

a dominant first half with 3 goals powered barça to victory but a lackluster second half raises some concerns for the final next weekend.

this was a switch in lineup compared to the camp nou match against bayern, with caro and irene both facing short term molestias. for that reason, we had pina and salma start on the wings and aïcha subbing in for irene, and thankfully, they delivered. after an up and down season for pina and salma, they both scored to break the curse and get some goals back into their collective systems.

aïcha ended up playing the entire 90+ minutes with mapi and showed why she is a first team player. an admirable effort for the teenager in a domestic final! 👏

esmee was my player of the match. she scored, had defensive stops, great passes, and was an overall beast on the pitch!

we have to talk about the second half because it's shades of what happened against bayern. it seems that we build this lead and then lose the momentum and let the other team back into the match. against a team like atletí, it's not as concerning, but against a lyon, we need to do a better job in closing out matches.

thankfully we survived without any major injuries and we take another trophy back to bcn (although alexia was getting thrown around a lot on the pitch!)  ✅ 

and hopefully cata, esmee, and pajor can remind the rest of the team to show up because i have absolutely nothing constructive to say about the performances of any of the others. 😵‍💫

and once again, pere is showing why he is outclassed when it comes to playing against europe’s big teams. 🙄

this lineup was the result of injuries (not pere's intellect) but it ended up being a showcase for the kids to show that they could step up. carla, sydney, and clara all had excellent minutes. and aïcha was so solid at the back. we also got a sydney brace and ainoa goal too.

carla julià especially was a revelation as right winger, and she will make an excellent backup for caro in this position. 👏

our pitxitxi ewa pajor continues her goal tally with a poker. and carla had the most beautiful nutmeg to goal combination. 😮‍💨

and it was wonderful to see the kids showing off and having multiple goal scorers. we can put together this type of performance with some of the best players in the world injured and/or on our bench watching along. it's an amazing feat. 🙌

bonus: alexia breaks her penalty curse with a solid penalty as well!

as for madrid cff, that was a poor performance. defensively, offensively, goalkeeping wise, they were terrible all around. and madrid cff has been an incubator of young talent in the past, but today's loss needs to be studied and then quickly forgotten by them.

first, everyone needs to send all their good thoughts to laia aleixandri who was stretched off the pitch holding her knee. let's pray that the power of ewa pajor watches over her 🙏

as to the match, it was a complete thrashing emotionally and physically of real madrid, and if not for dodgy ref decisions and a solid performance by misa, the scoreline would have been even higher.

and it had to be alexia started the scoring and off a set piece too. love that we are capitalising more on these opportunities. and alexia making a statement that she is far from washed and has plenty of football left in her legs 😤

it's so good to see patri, salma, caro, and ewa combining so well. these players who suffered injuries during the year are making their way back to their prime forms. 😮‍💨

real madrid had no answers for barça and their only recourse was to attack and try and injure our players through rough play. thankfully, our girls were extra sassy tonight and pushed back when they could. the amount of demon that vicky and pina brought to the pitch was next level 🤌

and finally, rfef and the refs tried to set barça up to fail but not even their shenanigans could overpower the chemistry and grit in this team. and we move on to the semis! 🙂‍↕️

for this last league match before international break, pere opted for a highly rotated lineup featuring crazy torre and the kids, and they all showed why they deserve a spot in the first team.

6 different goal scorers on the occasion along with martine fenger's first ever first team goal, a torregol, and an impressive goal olímpico from mapi, who also was named mvp. we love to see the scoring distributed in this way!

the first half started a bit shaky as the team was getting into the rhythm of things, but salma drew a penalty in the box and converted and it seemed like in that moment the team breathed a sigh of relief.

the second half was better and certainly more cohesive than the first as the team got into its rhythm, and the goals poured on.

thankfully, pere did not resort to his panic subs and we got full 90 minute rest for players like patri, ona, and alexia. and more valuable minutes for sydney (and her golazos!), adriana ranera, and fenger. fenger, in particular, just needs to work more on her final pass, and she could have had a hat trick!

gemma didn't have much to do, but was effective in the moments where she had to act.

overall, a solid way to enter international break with a goleada, minutes for the kids, and no apparent injuries! 👏

soooo i don't know what curse was put upon our forward line but similar to the first leg, we could not score to save our collected lives in the first half. it was sloppy and lacked cohesion, and we let badalona dictate more of the play than was necessary.

thankfully, the team was able to completely reset in the second half, and all it needed was someone to take the team on their back and lead the way. and that person was of course, our captain. alexia had a brace on the night (which could have been a hat trick with a close call on offsides!) but she really showed good leadership out there, and why she still has that magic. 🪄

similarly, when kika and sydney both came on as subs, they offered needed energy and had really good performances. kika's goal and her pass that set up pajor's goal were spectacular. and how good is it to see ewa pajor scoring goals again?! 👏

poor aïcha was upset with herself after this game, but she's young and learning still. i would prefer her pairing with either mapi and irene to be sure. but keep your head high!

and gemma font had a rather good game too. she was called on to make a few saves and held up rather well. with more playing time, you can see her confidence is growing too.

as for pere, this wasn't the match to start with experimental lineups, and the salma as fullback experiment isn't a good one. thankfully, we were playing badalona but our girls were able to troubleshoot their way to victory. something to keep an eye on as we continue into champions next week.

this was a match of missed opportunities and strong defenses. our backline held their own as there were moments of high pressure by real madrid. a strong performance on the evening from the entire unit. ona kept linda caicedo in her pocket and cata kept the clean sheet.

it's time for shooting practise when we return to barcelona. there were so many sitters missed and chances wasted on goal. we also have to give credit to misa because she had a masterclass on the evening and kept madrid in it for a while.

but the best news is that the first goal came off a corner (well done esmee), which is an area of struggle all season. the tactics are improving on set pieces.

we only have to talk about the level of refereeing, which also had its ups and downs. a clear foul on ona was missed (and potential penalty), but there were calls that went our way as well. it could have been worse and ultimately, did not cost us the match. alexia converted on her penalty to close the match comfortably.

what a wonderful match for patri. after being sidelined for months, she has come back for her first start and immediately grabbed that mvp trophy. the kids also did quite well on the evening and goes to show that the future is bright.

overall, a well earned victory, despite the flaws, and we take our first trophy home of the season! 👏