Barcelona tried again and again this Tuesday to score the goals that would give him a pass to the second final of the Champions League in its history, but most of the time he failed his aim against Wolfsburg and never found the remedy. Only once did the German team's goalkeeper, Friederike Abt, have to remove a ball that sneaked into the net after a header from Nigerian Oshoala. The rest of the occasions, some of almost putting the inside and pushing the ball to the back of the net, they went out. They lacked in Anoeta, an empty stadium due to the pandemic, to adjust the sight to the Catalans, lowered in the semifinals by Wolfsburg, who had a goal from Fridolina Rolfö in the 58th minute of the second half to qualify and play the Sunday their fifth final of the Champions League, after winning those of 2013 and 2014 and being runners-up in 2016 and 2018.
Barcelona, the champion of Spain, had traveled from victory to victory until the semifinals after defeating Atlético in the quarterfinals. The German champion was also undefeated. Neither had lost a match since the previous season. Barcelona fell in May last year against Lyon in the Champions League final (4-1), the same competition in which Wolfsburg failed against the French team - quoted this Wednesday (20.00, Gol TV) with PSG in the other semifinal - which eliminated them in the quarterfinals in March 2019.
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Only the disappointment of the goal, the detail that almost always marks the differences in top-level football - be it male, female or formative - clouded Barcelona's game in San Sebastián on Tuesday. With Norway's Graham Hansen on the far right and all the national talent on the pitch, midfielders Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso and forward Mariona Caldentey, Barcelona played head-to-head against Wolfsburg - a team he had faced twice. , both with defeat - and managed to undress him in various phases of the match.
The Blaugranas fluently built the game every time they connected with Hermoso or Mariona, who left the band to receive inside, behind the Wolfsburg midfielders. It was there that Barça sewed their best chances in the first and second half. For example, on the edge of halftime, in a pass from Caldentey to Hansen, of which they compare his dribbling ability with that of Neymar in the Catalan club's sports city. The Norwegian, who had already warned in the first minute with a shot from the right corner of the area, went from his defense like someone scares a fly, but his shot went wide, a foot from Abt's right post. Oshoala also had a clear in the first section, which in an indecision between the defense and the goalkeeper went wide after winning the position thanks to his power.
Both occasions were answered by the Germans, who gained air in each counter, buoyant when they had room to run. They found two shots from Huth, the clearest one from a header that Sandra Paños stopped when the German had the entire goal at close range and finished off the goalkeeper's body in the 40th minute.
Rolfö's goal, a toe shot almost on the goal line after a tangled play in the Paños area, did not change the game in the second half. Barcelona dominated in positional play, with Wolfsburg more comfortable in the race. Mariona had the equalizer after a play by the exquisite Jenni Hermoso on the baseline, but finished high with the inside just four meters from goal. Hermoso himself could also score after a play by Marta Torrejón, although he was not able to splice the volley well after an imprecise control at the penalty spot. In the final section, with the overflow of Aitana Bonmatí, who had entered through Oshoala, blurred without spaces, the Catalans added two more attempts: a deflected shot from Bonmatí herself and a pass from Hansen to Hermoso which she did not reach by a little finger and in which the Catalan bench requested a penalty. Barça stayed on the edge of the goal and will have to wait at least another year to make history with their first Champions League.
