Barça Femení set new world record attendance in emphatic Champions League semi-final win

Barça Femení have taken a huge step towards retaining their European crown after a 5-1 victory over Wolfsburg in the semi-final first leg in a game that saw the team beat the world record for the highest attendance at an official women’s football match for the second time in a matter of weeks. 

A total of 91,648 fans turned out at the Camp Nou for the historic night that saw Barça Femení put on a show that delighted the spectators. The record was first broken in the quarter-final against Real Madrid, when a new record attendance of 91,553 was recorded.

The noise from the fans was almost deafening from before the game, even when it was clear that there were many fans yet to arrive at the 6.45 pm kickoff. 

📽 | Barça Femení players celebrate with the fans on the night they broke their own world record for highest attendance – 91,648 fans turned out at the Camp Nou to see them beat Wolfsburg 5-1

More: https://t.co/5w2sCghPTH pic.twitter.com/hF049MMPIG

— Catalan News (@catalannews) April 22, 2022

Barça were electric from the off and took the lead in the third minute through Aitana Bonmatí. By the 5th minute, they had two more brilliant chances to score. While they didn’t take those, the pace of the game was set, and it was clear that Wolsfburg couldn’t live with this level of intensity.

Caroline Graham Hansen doubled the lead by the 10th minute with a sublime finish after a lovely bit of skill to open up the space to shoot. 

Barcelona’s start was so good that Wolfsburg had to regroup in a huddle in the middle of the pitch after the second goal to try calm things down. Shortly after, the Germans created their first opportunity of the game, but Sandra Paños minding the nets for the home side was equal to the task. 

The Catalans unleashed wave after wave of pressure on the visitors, who could not cope with the intensity, speed, and incisiveness of Barça’s play. Time after time they kept finding open pockets of space in the Wolfsburg defence to exploit, and by half time the blaugrana were 4-0 to the good, with Jennifer Hermoso and Alexia Putellas adding their names to the scoresheet, both after fine team moves.

Wolfsburg managed to pull one back in the second half, giving them some hope for the return leg, but the four-goal margin was restored late by an Alexia penalty. 

Despite an improved second half from Wolfsburg, Barça were head and shoulders above their opponents for the vast majority of this encounter, and will fancy their chances of reaching the showpiece event in Turin in May if they are capable of offering the same level of performance.  

The second leg of the semi-final will be played in Germany next week on Saturday April 30. Barça travel there with one foot already in the final, and they’ll be as eager as ever to defend their crown.