CL dream bursts in the second half
VfL Wolfsburg breaks under the force of Barcelona
6/3/2023 5:56 p.m
Ewa Pajor, Alex Popp: After 45 minutes, VfL Wolfsburg is about to win the women’s Champions League – the first title in the premier class since 2014. A double strike after the break unsettles the women wolves. They never recover from that. FC Barcelona triumphs, Wolfsburg mourns.
Tears after a dream start: VfL Wolfsburg let the stars of FC Barcelona rip Europe’s football crown out of their hands. The cup winners around Alexandra Popp lost to the favorites 2: 3 (2: 0) in a memorable Champions League final after leading 2: 0 and missed the third triumph after 2013 and 2014 in the most bitter way.
“We had planned to continue like this after the break,” said Wolfsburg’s Kathrin Hendrich on ZDF: “But Barça then switched, we had to sort things out, they took advantage of that coldly, and then we let our heads hang.” The defeat was “super annoying because we invested so much”.
In front of 33,147 fans in the packed PSV Eindhoven stadium, the Polish striker Ewa Pajor (3rd) ensured the perfect VfL start, DFB captain Popp (37th) increased with a typical header. With a double strike within 108 seconds, Patri Guijarro (48’/50′) brought Spain’s champions closer before ex-wolf Fridolina Rolfö (70′) gave Barça their second triumph. This 2: 3 was “the killer”, said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg later, “and it was avoidable”.
Dream start for Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg coach Tommy Stroot had chosen an offensive line-up with Popp in her favorite position as center forward, with Pajor coming down the left flank. Barça coach Jonatan Giraldez initially left his superstar Alexia Putellas on the bench. The Spanish world footballer made her comeback at the end of April after a cruciate ligament rupture, this Saturday she only entered the field in the 90th minute.
Loudly driven by their 8,000 “culers” who had traveled with them, Guijarro scored the first goal for Barça after just 44 seconds. But thanks to high pressing, VfL got the first punch: Pajor stole the ball from the completely inattentive European champion Lucy Bronze and scored her remarkable ninth goal of the Champions League season from the edge of the penalty area.
That’s exactly what Popp had in mind when she announced football the “German way” the day before as the method of choice against Barcelona’s tiki-taka style. The Wolves defended passionately, Spain’s serial champions let the ball run, but in the last third they lacked the necessary precision in the first round.
Great uncertainty after the change of sides
Completely different Wolfsburg on the other side: After an exemplary cross from Pajor, Popp demonstrated her trademark when she didn’t give Barça goalkeeper Sandra Panos a chance with a header from close range. Spurred on by the lost finals in 2016, 2018 and 2020, she broke the record of goals in four different finals set by Ada Hegerberg (Olympique Lyon).
Shortly before the half-time whistle, national goalkeeper Merle Frohms prevented Salma Paralluelo (45+2) from scoring. But after the change of sides, the Catalans showed their feared true face, Wolfsburg completely lost control. First Guijarro executed a picture-perfect attack with his foot, only to then equalize with his shoulder.
VfL couldn’t get the uncertainty under control – and so the third goal was unfortunate. Full-back Lynn Wilms shot Kathrin Hendrich in the penalty area while attempting to clear, the lurking Swede Rolfö shot the ball into the far post.