Marina Hegering didn’t want to see all that, it hurt too much. She squatted and turned away. Her gaze went to the stands, but what she saw there didn’t make it any better. There, the fans of FC Barcelona jumped and sang euphorically and finally even more euphorically: because shortly after Hegering had turned around, Alexia Putellas, surrounded by her teammates, tore up the large, silver Champions League trophy a few meters away, in front of her a white one Band with “Winner” written on it, winner.
But Hegering and VfL Wolfsburg were the losers on this Saturday afternoon in front of 33,147 spectators in the Eindhoven stadium. And that hurt especially because at first it looked like they would be the ones to celebrate on the podium for the third time in the club’s history and for the first time since 2014. Alexandra Popp also stood aside with tears in her eyes for a long time after this dramatic game. “When you’re so close and you lose the game, it just hurts badly. We actually had them,” said Popp. And Tommy Stroot said: “I need some quiet thoughts and I have to look at the scenes, it’s about details.”
It took a long time for Wolfsburg’s coach to appear at the press conference. The 34-year-old looked very depressed, but in his statements he acknowledged his team’s performance: “Reaching the final was a huge thing,” he said. That won’t get any easier in the future given the international development with financially stronger clubs: “But we know that we’re relatively close to these teams if we play our way.” Overall, the spectators saw a great game, one that promoted women’s football.
It was mainly advertising for FC Barcelona. His style of play inspired and underlined the class of this team – which had made it to the final without the long injured Alexia Putellas, who was only substituted on in the 89th minute. Barça have reached the final of the club’s most important competition for the fourth time in five years, the second title for women after 2021. It didn’t look like it at first, however.
In the past four finals, the team that scored the first goal had always won
Patricia Guijarro tested VfL keeper Merle Frohms after just 44 seconds. However, it was the women from Wolfsburg who scored the first goals of the afternoon. Lucy Bronze was just about to sort herself out near her own penalty area and was so focused on her teammates that she didn’t see Ewa Pajor coming from behind. The Pole grabbed the ball, ran to the semi-circle and in the third minute fired with full force. Sandra Paños reached out and the Catalans’ goalkeeper got in – but it wasn’t enough. Wolfsburg led thanks to Pajor’s ninth goal in eleven Champions League games. No other player has scored so many times in this competition this season.
How the players formed a green cheering ball on the pitch and how ecstatically happy the Wolfsburg bench, including the otherwise very controlled Stroot, showed the enormous relief at the lead. This feeling stayed with the team – but first in all those scenes in which Barça could not compensate.
Because the favorites kept up the pressure, they looked for and found space with their typical short passing game and repeatedly came dangerously into the Wolfsburg penalty area and made shots. The ball was theirs, just not the goal. Either there was a Wolfsburg body part in the way, or there was a lack of precision, sometimes luck, sometimes a mixture of both. One of the biggest chances came from Irene Paredes, who just missed the target with a header from a corner.
In the past four finals, the team that scored the first goal had always won. Barcelona know this from their own experience in 2019, 2021 and 2022 – two years ago to their own delight. The last year things went differently was 2018, when Wolfsburg led and still lost 4-1 to Olympique Lyon. And even if it didn’t look like it at first: This time, too, there was such a turning point. After all of Barcelona’s wasted opportunities, the Wolfsburg women underlined their enormous efficiency that day in the 37th minute: Felicitas Rauch saw Pajor on the left, who sent the ball precisely into the penalty area, where Alexandra Popp headed in the way that is so typical of her increased to 2:0.
Alexandra Popp scores to make it 2-0.
(Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP)
Wolfsburg must be “tactically very good and very clever”, Popp said before her seventh Champions League final, one with Duisburg (2009) and two with Wolfsburg (2013, 2014) she had won: “I think that we have the opportunity to definitely fight against it and then show the German way on the pitch.” With her goal, the 32-year-old is now the second footballer after Ada Hegerberg to score in four different premier class finals: Popp also scored a goal in 2014, 2016 and 2020.
Barcelona gets drunk on the quick comeback
But no matter how lavish Barcelona were in the first half, they took advantage of them ruthlessly after the break. Mariona Caldentey’s first shot landed in Frohms’ arms. But then, in the 48th minute, the Wolfsburg women allowed their former teammate Caroline Graham Hansen to play on the right side of the penalty area – and her colleague Guijarro in the center was criminally unguarded. Immediately it was only 2:1. Intoxicated by this quick comeback, Barça tried again in the 50th minute. This time the cross came from Aitana Bonmatí, the enforcer was the same. Just 108 seconds elapsed between Guijarro’s two goals.
The Blaugrana fans had previously acoustically transformed the stadium in Eindhoven into their home ground, after the 2-2 equalizer the volume continued to increase and then, in the 70th minute, happiness broke out again from the bouncing, singing, fans clapping, waving scarves and flags. Wolfsburg’s Lynn Wilms got the ball in the penalty area, but instead of freeing her team from the situation with a shot, she started the misery: She hit teammate Kathrin Hendrich, the ball landed at Fridolina Rolfö and from there it was unstoppable for Frohms to 3:2 in goal. Stroot changed, but the game was decided, Barcelona danced – and Wolfsburg cried.