More than 80 minutes of a memorable survival exercise, without any prize for Atlético. The victory went to Barcelona, who qualified for their third semi-final of the Women's Champions League in the last four years. After overcoming the adversities before the classic and after containing the powerful Barça players, Atlético won in San Mamés. Forward Duggan ran out of gas and was unable to cover either side Strom or wheel Sosa. The exquisite Graham was left alone to shoot the center. Bad business. She found Hamraoui alone in the area. And the French, unopposed, scored the final 0-1, which closed the first Spanish football classic in Europe.
When UEFA debuted the Champions League at the beginning of the 21st century, the Scandinavian, German and English countries dominated the contest. Levante, Athletic, Espanyol and Rayo, the pioneers in Spain who bet on women, could not say a word against the physical and tactical power of teams such as Frankfurt and Turbine (Germany), Umea (Sweden) and Arsenal ( England). At the first of change, they returned home. So, it seemed unwise to dream of a different reality. Almost 20 years later, LaLiga Iberdrola has a Champions League finalist - Barcelona, last season - and San Mamés witnessed the first quarter-final match between two Spanish teams: Barcelona and Atlético. Next season, the League will have three seats (one more compared to this season), a position to which the new Real Madrid aspires.
Beyond the historic end of last season (they lost in Budapest to Olympique Lyon 4-1), Barcelona is already seasoned in Europe. It is the fifth consecutive season that the Catalans have been among the eight best teams in Europe; for Atlético, on the other hand, it was their debut in the quarterfinals. Luck was not with him. All you had to do was look at the bench to understand how the Madrid team got to the meeting with Barça in San Mamés: six players with Dani González for the 12 who accompanied Lluís Cortés. Among those sanctioned, injured and players affected by covid-19, Atlético traveled with 17 players (three from the subsidiary), of which six were expressly incorporated for the Champions League (UEFA allowed eight signings to be registered for the final). It was difficult to recognize the rojiblanco eleven, at least when compared to the duels against Barça during the season: Duggan, Sampedro and Sosa were the only three who had met in the classics of the last season.
Wolfsburg, the next rival
Atlético, however, was recognizable in intensity. After five months without competing (the last game was played on March 1 against Real), Dani González's team was pragmatic, balanced, essentially resilient. From two lines of four, very close to goalkeeper Lindahl, the rojiblanco team unhinged Barça. The Catalans did not find the spaces and, when they did, they collided with the Swedish goalkeeper. 12 shots (fourth on goal) counted Barcelona until Hamraoui broke Atlético. Barcelona qualified for the semifinals for the third time in their history. They will face Wolfsburg, who beat Glasgow (9-1), in Anoeta on Tuesday.
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