Barcelona, Spain – This Wednesday at 6:45 PM CET, FC Barcelona dey prepare to face Vfl Wolfsburg for di quarter-final first leg of di UEFA Women’s Champions League at di 30,000-capacity Volkswagen Arena for Germany. Coach Pere Romeu carry 22 players come Germany to battle for dis crucial match.
Di players wey dem carry include Gemma, Paredes, María León, Jana, Paralluelo, Marta, Pina, Graham, Alexia, Patri, Cata Coll, Aitana, Rolfö, Pajor, Vicky, Engen, Brugts, Caño, Schertenleib, C. Serrajordi, Judit, and Txell Font. Di team wey win dis match go meet di winner of di all-English clash between Manchester City and Chelsea in di semi-finals.
Wolfsburg don dey dominant for German women football alongside Bayern Munich, consistently finishing top for di league for di past ten years. Dem don win di UWCL in 2013 and 2014, and dem reach di final four more times. Dis season, Barcelona win dem group, while Wolfsburg struggle enter di knockout stage, finishing second behind Olympique Lyonnais and qualifying on goal difference ahead of AS Roma.
“We get high hopes for dis game,” Pere Romeu talk. “Wolfsburg strong, but we ready to show our quality as defending champions.”
Wolfsburg come into dis match after dem suffer 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich, which put dem six points behind dem in di Frauen-Bundesliga, positioning dem in third place behind Eintracht Frankfurt. Lineth Beerensteyn be di top scorer for wurld this season with 11 goals, while dem captain, Alexandra Popp, who be regarded as one of di greatest female footballers from Germany, lead di UWCL with seven goals.
Dis go be di fifth time di two teams go clash for di competition. Di first two meetings saw Wolfsburg win, but di tide don turn since den as Barça won di semi-final in 2022 and also triumphed in di final last year in Eindhoven. Ewa Pajor, wey score for Wolfsburg den, now dey play for Barça.
Before dem fly to Germany, Claudia Pina don recover well, but Ona Batlle and Ellie Roebuck no go feature due to injury. Batlle dey out for two to three weeks with a soleus injury, and Roebuck struggle with a tibial issue also expected to sideline am for di same period. Kika Nazareth don get medial collateral ligament rupture in her left ankle and go undergo surgery today.
Wolfsburg coach, Tommy Stroot, dey count on di experience of Alex Popp to inspire hin team as dem face di reigning champions. Di forward don score four goals for di group stage and be Germany’s third-highest goal-scorer with 67 goals. Although Popp go lead di charge, she no go get support from Luca Papp due to injury.
Pere Romeu don rest key players ahead of dis match, and we fit expect plenty familiar faces like Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati, and Caroline Graham Hansen to make di lineup for Barça. Ewa Pajor go face her former team after scoring five goals in dis competition while representing Barça.
“We dey confident for dis game. We get quality and firepower to match any opponent,” said Pajor.
On paper, Barça dey poised to win dis match comfortably, especially after dem beat Real Madrid twice in quick succession recently. Despite Wolfsburg’s challenges domestically, di confidence from their performances against Lyon should give dem some hope as dem prepare to face Barça, who most times no dey fear big occasions. Di match promises to be an interesting encounter!
