Midfielder Alexia Putellas scored a brace to lead Barcelona to a 4-2 win over Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal tie on Sunday, completing a 5-3 aggregate victory and setting up a final against OL Lyonnes. The French side had finished off holders Arsenal in the other semifinal on Saturday.
“I’m really happy for the team, they’ve had a great season and now we just need to put the cherry on top,” three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati told streaming service Disney+. “(Lyon) are a historic club in the Champions League, they’ve got an amazing team, for me they’ve always been the side to beat,” added the playmaker, who received one of the biggest cheers of the match when she was substituted on in the 68th minute — marking her return to action after breaking her leg in December.
Sunday’s defeat at the Camp Nou, in front of more than 60,000 spectators, followed a 1-1 draw in Munich a week earlier. Bayern had come to the Catalan capital looking to sit deep and hit Barcelona on the break, but the hosts needed only 13 minutes to open the scoring when Salma Paralluelo finished off a Caroline Graham Hansen cross.
Bayern responded quickly, levelling four minutes later when Pernille Harder seized the ball at the halfway line and released Linda Dallmann, who finished well at the top of the box. Barcelona, however, restored their lead in the 22nd minute as Putellas struck with a deflected effort.
The home side extended their lead after the interval when Poland striker Ewa Pajor scored in the 54th minute, and Putellas hooked home her second four minutes later to seemingly put the tie beyond Bayern.
Bayern pushed late in search of a comeback. Harder drilled a strike into the far corner in the 71st minute to make it 3-2, and the visitors struck the woodwork twice in the closing stages. Harder appeared to score again in the 90th minute, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR).
“Right now it’s too painful,” Bayern defender and Germany captain Giulia Gwinn told German public broadcaster ZDF. “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 move on to face OL Lyonnes in the final in Oslo, Norway, on May 23. This will be the Spanish giants’ sixth consecutive final; they won the Champions League in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Bayern, having missed out on a first Champions League final, remain on course for a domestic double. After clinching a fourth straight Bundesliga title last month, they face Wolfsburg in the German Cup final in Cologne on May 14.
Edited by: Matt Pearson