Huge anticipation for Women’s Champions League final causes Barça’s website to crash

FC Barcelona Femení will play their second consecutive Champions League final in Turin on May 21, where Olympique Lyonnais will stand in between the Catalans and the chance to retain their European crown. 

Barça qualified for the showpiece event by defeating Wolfsburg 5-3 on aggregate in the semi-final – a 5-1 home victory in the first leg that saw a new world record attendance was followed by a second leg 2-0 defeat in Germany. 

On Monday, free tickets for the final went on offer to club members (‘socis’). Thousands of people logged onto the website from 10 am to put their names down for tickets, resulting in Barça’s website crashing. The portal has been returned to service and will remain open for socis until Thursday. 

Barcelona does not yet know exactly how many tickets will be allocated to each finalist it’s already been confirmed that 3,000 free tickets will be available, tickets offered by UEFA as deference to fans who have not been able to enjoy live football during the pandemic. Last season’s Champions League final for example, when Barça beat Chelsea 4-0 in Sweden, was played behind closed doors.

These additional tickets, which UEFA will provide to Barça, will be paid for and will also be made available to club members. If the demand for tickets exceeds the number of tickets available, a draw will be held to determine who gets them.

Non-members can already purchase tickets for €10 from the UEFA website.

The 2022 Women’s Champions League final will be a repeat of the 2019 edition, which also featured the Catalans and the French outfit. Lyon won that game 4-1 in what was Barça’s first-ever appearance at the showpiece event. 

In fact, by winning the European Cup last year, Barcelona ended Lyon’s unprecedented run of dominance in the competition, when they had picked up five titles in a row between 2016 and 2020. 

Winning in style

There is huge excitement for the Barcelona women’s team across Catalonia, especially with the record-breaking performances and seasons the team has put in over the past couple of years. 

Not only did they claim a league, cup, and Champions League treble last year, they are on course to repeat that achievement in style again this year. Barça have already claimed the league title, their record 7th domestic crown, with 27 wins from 27 games played so far. 

Through those 27 games, they have scored 146 goals, averaging 5.4 per game, and have only let in 8 all season. 

Added to the on-pitch glory, star player Alexia Putellas is the most recent winner of the Ballon d’Or, while Barcelona recently broke the world record for highest attendance at an official women’s football match – twice. 

The Champions League quarter-final clash against Real Madrid was played at the Camp Nou where 91,553 spectators saw an emphatic win for the Catalans. 

This was followed up with an even bigger crowd at the same venue for the semi-final first leg, the 5-1 thrashing of Wolfsburg, when 91,648 fans turned up.