MY ACCOUNT
Alexia Putellas hailed Barcelona’s win over Real Madrid at a packed-out Camp Nou as “utterly magical” after a record-breaking night in the Women’s Champions League.
Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Putellas scored the fourth goal as Barcelona triumphed 5-2 in the second leg, and 8-3 on aggregate, booking a semi-final place.
The reigning European club champions were rampant in the second half, after at one stage being 2-1 down, and the flurry of goals delighted a record crowd of 91,553 spectators.
That is the highest recorded attendance for a women’s football game in history. In club football terms, it surpassed the 60,739 that saw Atletico Madrid host Barca at Wanda Metropolitano three years ago.
Captain Putellas said: “This has been utterly magical. When the match finished, the fans simply didn’t want to go home. There was such a connection between them and us while we celebrated. To hear them singing that they want to go to Turin was superb.”
Arsenal or Wolfsburg await Barcelona in the semi-finals, before Turin’s Allianz Stadium, home to Juventus, stages the final on May 21.
Putellas explained that the sight of a bumper crowd inside Barcelona’s home stadium was uplifting for the women’s team, who play most of their games at the 6,000-capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff.
She said, quoted on uefa.com: “When tickets sold out in just three days I admit that we were all a little surprised because it tells you how much the fans want to see you in the Camp Nou, how much they want you to win.”
The experience was “beyond comparison”, she added.
“To come out and see this stadium full to the brim… indescribable.”
Team-mate Fridolina Rolfo gave the morning-after verdict on Thursday.
“Wow, it is hard to put into words just how special that was,” Rolfo wrote on Twitter. “For me it was a dream come true and I hope that it shows young girls all over the world that football is for them and that they can achieve whatever they dream of achieving.
“We are just getting started.”
