Barcelona beat Real Madrid in front of world record crowd of 91,533 to reach Women's Champions League semi-finals
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Updated 30/03/2022 at 21:47 GMT
Barcelona were involved when the previous record attendance was set for a club match, with 60,739 in attendance when they visited Atletico Madrid in 2019. The club record has now been emphatically surpassed, with the world record for a women's football match of any kind also broken with a packed out crowd for the El Clasico clash seeing Barcelona continue their Champions League defence in style.
Barcelona v Real Madrid - Women's Champions League
Image credit: Getty Images
Roared on by a world record crowd of 91,533 fans at the Nou Camp, Barcelona secured their place in the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League with a 5-2 win against their fierce rivals Real Madrid to progress 8-3 on aggregate.
Although the women’s side had played in the club’s famous arena before, it had a vastly different feel this time. They were greeted by silence last time out as they thrashed Espanyol 5-0 last January, with the height of Covid restrictions meaning no-one was there to watch.
Fast forward 14 months, and the players were greeted by a stunning visual display around the stadium, with a mosaic of supporter held placards reading “More Than Empowerment” to deliver a strong message on gender equality. The colours providing the vibrant backdrop were the yellows and reds associated with the Catalan flag, but the decision was made to put the wording in English in hope of a wider audience taking notice in the European competition.
With a 3-1 lead from the first leg, and backed by a vociferous home support, Barcelona were determined to put the tie to bed quickly, and were soon further ahead when María Pilar León looped a shot into the net within ten minutes.
However, Madrid gave themselves hope by pulling a goal back just five minutes later with Olga Carmona converting from the penalty spot after her initial shot had been blocked by the hand of Irene Paredes.
Just after half time, an astonishing Madrid comeback became even more possible when Claudia Zornoza scored from nearly 40 years out, lobbing Sandra Panos, who was off her line. That goal put the visitors ahead on the night, but they still trailed by one goal on aggregate.
As Madrid started to dream of pulling off an incredible turnaround, Barcelona responded like champions tend to do, scoring two goals in two minutes, with Aitana Bonmati and Claudia Pina striking to put them 6-3 up in the tie.
Any hope of Madrid once again clawing themselves back into the match were over when Ballon d’Or holder Alexia Putellas decided to join in on the act, with the Barcelona captain scoring her team’s fourth goal on the night.
In true El Clasico fashion, Barcelona were keen to inflict as much pain on their rivals as possible, and Caroline Graham Hansen added to Madrid’s grief by smashing home another with twenty minutes still to play.
No more goals came, but a huge party atmosphere ensued with those in attendance knowing they had witnessed a historic occasion.
In the evening's other quarter final, Paris Saint-Germain narrowly got the better of Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate after extra time.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Sandy Baltimore put PSG in front on the night after 17 minutes, extending their advantage in the tie.
However, Japanese international Saki Kumagai equalised two minutes later for the Germans before Lea Schuller's second half goal levelled the aggregate score and set up an aditional half hour of football.
Ramona Bachmann scored before the break in extra time for the Parisians, booking their place in the final four.
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