FC Barcelona was perfect on a 9-0 Tuesday afternoon over Swedish side Hammarby in the Women’s Champions League, matching the club record for the largest victory margin in the competition. The triumph assures Barcelona will remain first in the group and it sets a benchmark as one of the first favorites for the title.
Starting from the first whistle, Barça dominated the game’s action, a trend that continued with the performance of captaining Alexia Putellas who managed to score twice within the first 30 minutes. The reigning Ballon d’Or winner launched a tenacious attacking motive from her side, which was topped off with more goals from Aitana Bonmatí, Asisat Oshoala, and Mariona Caldentey before half-time, thus sending the Catalan side into halftime of an attacking 5-0 lead.
In the latter half, Barcelona didn’t seem like they would let up. They simply added another goal to Oshoala’s tally while the substitutes Claudia Pina and Ana-Maria Crnogorčević joined in late strikes as well. Hammarby could not keep up with the fluid passing and incessant pressure from the Catalan giants as they recorded one of the most comprehensive victories in recent times.
The 9-0 victory puts them on the same level as the other 9-0 they had at the start of 2019 when playing against Minsk in an elite-level game of the Women’s Champions League. On the other hand, the outcome meant that, for the third consecutive match in the group stage, Barcelona had kept a clean sheet, attesting to solidity on defense as well.
Jonatan Giráldez, the head coach of Barcelona after the match, made some comments regarding his team’s concentration and work. “We wanted to send a message with this performance,” Giráldez said. “The players executed our game plan perfectly, and now we have to keep this momentum going.”
With this win, Barcelona remains the only unbeaten team of the phase, with qualification to the Knockout stage ensured ahead of time. Hammarby is, on the other hand, at the bottom.
