Alexia Putellas scored twice as Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 4-2 in the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal at the Camp Nou on Sunday, sealing a 5-3 aggregate win and a place in the final against Lyon. The French side had eliminated holders Arsenal in the other semifinal on Saturday.
Three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati said she was delighted for the squad after the victory. “I’m really happy for the team, they’ve had a great season and now we just need to put the cherry on top,” she told streaming service Disney+. Bonmati also praised Lyon as “a historic club in the Champions League” and received one of the loudest cheers of the night when she was brought on in the 68th minute, marking her return from a broken leg suffered in December.
More than 60,000 fans watched at the Camp Nou, where the tie had been poised after a 1-1 draw in Munich a week earlier. Barcelona opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Salma Paralluelo converted a Caroline Graham Hansen cross. Bayern responded four minutes later: Pernille Harder won possession near the halfway line and fed Linda Dallmann, who finished from the edge of the box to level.
Putellas put Barcelona back ahead in the 22nd minute with a deflected effort. After the break Poland striker Ewa Pajor extended the lead in the 54th minute, then Putellas added her second with a hooked finish in the 58th to make the score 4-1 on the night and seemingly secure the tie.
Bayern pressed for a late recovery. Harder curled a fine strike into the far corner in the 71st minute to make it 3-2, and the visitors hit the woodwork twice in the closing stages. A late effort by Harder that looked to restore parity in the 90th was disallowed after a VAR review.
“Right now it’s too painful,” Bayern defender and Germany captain Giulia Gwinn told ZDF after the match. “There’s plenty of frustration as we had the feeling we were still in it. I know we can be proud, but that feeling will come a bit further down the line. We had chances, hit the woodwork twice. I’m not able to explain why the goal was chalked off.”
Barcelona will meet Lyon in the final in Oslo on May 23. This will be Barcelona’s sixth consecutive Champions League final; they won the competition in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Bayern, who missed the chance to reach their first Champions League final, can still complete a domestic double. The club clinched a fourth straight Frauen-Bundesliga title last month and will face Wolfsburg in the German Cup final in Cologne on May 14.
Edited by: Matt Pearson