In the match of the 14th round of the Spanish Primera Iberdrola, FC Barcelona defeated RCD Espanyol Femeni in the Catalan derby. The match was played at the famous Camp Nou stadium. Barcelona Femeni are unbeaten in the league since May 2019 and they have kept the record intact on the "Three King's Day".
50 years after the first and the only match that the FC Barcelona women's team played at Camp Nou, the Blaugrana players once again entered the pitch of the legendary stadium. The Spanish champions could not have dreamed of a better start to the year. Thanks to their 5-0 victory over Espanyol, they maintain their leading position in the league table with 11 wins out of 11 matches.
FC Barcelona Femeni had to do without two players who tested positive for covid-19 before the match. They were: team captain - Vicky Losada and center-back Bruna Vilamala. The Espanyol team also reported two covid-19 cases.
The FC Barcelona players from the very beginning of the match tried to impose their style of play, seeing the opportunity to score a goal with their patient play and creation in the positional attack. In the first ten minutes of the game, the Blaugrana players closed Espanyol in their own half, effectively preventing their opponents from launching dangerous counterattacks. In the eighth minute of the match, the team was close to scoring, but Mariona Caldentey's shot did not find the way into the goal. A moment later, the Barcelona winger was close to scoring again, the ball flew over the bar after her strike. Espanyol played very well defensively, which forced the Barcelona players to try to surprise Quesada with long shots. In the 19th minute of the match, Espanyol's goalkeeper showed a great intervention, saving her team from conceding a goal after Aitana Bonmati's header.
And again following the resulting corner, after confusion in the penalty area, Barcelona's right-back Marta Torrejon was close to placing the ball in the net. Espnayol players managed to threaten a goal guarded by Sandra Panos once, but the home team's goalkeeper parried the ball for an ineffective counter-attack. In the 42nd minute of the match, Blaugrana created another good opportunity to score for themselves, but Caldentey's shot stopped at the post. Barcelona's patience paid off in the 44th minute when Caroline Graham Hansen's cross from a corner kick turned into a goal from the team's captain Alexia Putellas. FC Barcelona got their way and went to the dressing room with a single-goal lead. Putellas entered the pages of history, the goal she scored is the first goal scored by the women's team at Camp Nou.
After the break, the Blaugrana players continued their dominance on the pitch, and this brought the desired results in the form of more goals. In the 49th minute of the match, Marta Torrejon entered history with a well-taken left-footed drive into the top corner. Aitana Bonmati's shot was blocked and the ball landed beneath Torrejon's feet, who with a strike from the left foot gave her team a two-goal lead in the Catalan derby.
The Espanyol players were not able to defend the goal as effectively as they did in the first half, and this translated into another goal scored by the home team. In the 55th minute of the match, the full-back Melanie Serrano, who is currently playing in her seventeenth season for the team, scored a beautiful goal. The Blaugrana players had more control of the ball and continued their attacks, first Hermoso hit the crossbar, a moment later Caldentey missed the target by a millimeter. In the 72nd minute, the Dutch winger Lieke Martens added another goal, and eleven minutes later, Ana-Maria Crnogorčević added a goal to 5-0. The result did not change and the Barcelona players could enjoy their eleventh league victory in a historic match played at the Camp Nou stadium.
Melanie Serrano:
“I feel that it has been a gift from life. Playing at the Camp Nou and scoring ... I'm very excited . I would like to dedicate the goal to my family and my partner."
FC Barcelona players are currently the leaders of the table, with a total of 11 wins and a goal difference of +60. Madrid CFF awaits them this Saturday.