Putellas and Barcelona finalize a week of embarrassment for Madrid.
BARCELONA, Spain — As the clock approached 7 p.m. in Barcelona, Alexia Putellas stood solitary in the corner of a packed Spotify Camp Nou, acknowledging the Barcelona supporters after scoring the opening goal against Real Madrid in Thursday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg.
Putellas’ 230th goal for Barça — occurring during her 500th match for the club — signified the beginning of another memorable evening for the Catalan team, who ultimately triumphed 6-0, securing a semifinal matchup with Bayern Munich following a commanding 12-2 aggregate victory over Madrid.
For Madrid, this week will be a relief to conclude after experiencing a thorough defeat by their Clásico adversaries across three encounters in just eight demanding days.
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In just a year, they have transitioned from achieving their first victory over Barça since their inception to appearing mentally overwhelmed each time they face the Blaugrana. A 6-2 loss in the first leg last Wednesday was succeeded by a 3-0 defeat in Liga F over the weekend, a result that brought Barça to the verge of clinching a seventh consecutive league title.
Madrid’s woes were compounded on Thursday as Caroline Graham Hansen netted twice, with additional goals from Irene Paredes, Ewa Pajor, and Esmee Brugts following Putellas’ initial strike, delivering Barça a straightforward win that was entirely deserved.
There is a unique energy about playing at Camp Nou that invigorates this team. Competing here for the first time since its reopening — in front of a crowd of 60,067, the largest for any match, men’s or women’s, since the renovation — they maintained their intensity from the opening whistle to the final whistle.
“Our aim was to approach the match as if the tie was even,” Putellas stated to ESPN.
Pau Quesada’s Madrid squad has no justifications. They have reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the second consecutive year based on their performance. They should not be capitulating as they have in the past week, regardless of Barça’s excellence.
What will be particularly frustrating for Madrid is that it seemed the gap was narrowing when they defeated Barça last March. Prior to that, they could cite their late entry into women’s football and the need to catch up.
However, since that loss, Barça has reasserted their dominance. The players have expressed being particularly motivated by the notion that Madrid was closing the gap. This season’s six encounters have concluded with a score of 25-2 in favor of Barça.
This has been a significant setback for Madrid, who must now regroup and devise a plan for the next season.
At the heart of it all has been Putellas. Her opening goal brought her within two of César Rodríguez (232) on the club’s all-time scoring list. Only Lionel Messi (672) has netted more for either the men’s or women’s teams.
It was another historic moment: Putellas was the first woman to score at the old Spotify Camp Nou — against Espanyol in 2021 — and is now also the first to score at the renovated Camp Nou.
She then assisted Graham Hansen for Barça’s second goal. Paredes contributed the third, and Pajor netted the fourth before halftime. The scoreline could have been greater if not for several impressive saves from Misa Rodríguez in the Madrid goal — she made five saves with a GPrv (goals prevented) of 1.62.
Barça continued their relentless pursuit in the second half, spurred on by a crowd eager to see Madrid punished, but found it more challenging to find the back of the net. Graham Hansen added her second of the night after more excellent work from Putellas, with Brugts sealing the rout late in the match.
As 9 p.m. approached in Barcelona, shortly after the final whistle, Barça’s players changed into shirts emblazoned with “Putellas 500” to honor their captain’s latest achievement. They then gathered and lifted her into the air as fans chanted “Alexia.”
“It was a complete surprise what [my teammates] had organized,” Putellas remarked. “I am very pleased. It’s thanks to all the teammates I have had that I am here today.
“There are no words to express everything right now. It’s been magical. When they mentioned it would be my 500th game in this fixture, it was like… wow.”
One would expect the 32-year-old to have more nights like this ahead, although it is not guaranteed. Her contract expires this summer, and while president Joan Laporta aims to renew her contract, nothing has been finalized yet.
Before that, however, she has more matters to address. Bayern Munich is next on the agenda as Barça aims for a sixth consecutive Champions League final — with Putellas and her teammates eager to avenge last season’s final loss to Arsenal.
