After a tightly-contested 1-1 draw in Munich, the second leg of this semi-final was perfectly poised, and a sold-out Camp Nou was a fitting venue for the thrilling match that played out. It started fast, too, with Salma Paralluelo breaking the deadlock, Linda Dallmann equalising at the other end and Alexia Putellas restoring Barca’s lead all inside the first 22 minutes.
From there, Barca stamped their authority on the game a little more to go into what looked like a tie-killing 4-1 lead on the day, for a 5-2 advantage on aggregate, thanks to efforts from Ewa Pajor and another from Putellas. But suddenly the game became incredibly open, which suited Bayern to a tee.
Pernille Harder pulled another back for the visitors with 20 minutes to play, before Arianna Caruso saw an effort tipped onto the bar by Cata Coll and Dallmann followed her in striking the woodwork, with Coll also denying Vanessa Gilles from close range. With the returning Aitana Bonmati missing a great chance at the other end, Harder really thought she’d set up a grandstand finish with a goal in the 90th minute. However, VAR instructed referee Stephanie Frappart to head to the monitor to check a potential foul in the build-up, which would eventually, and controversially, rule the effort out and restore the scoreline to 5-3 on aggregate, rather than 5-4.
From there, Barca were able to see the win out for a 4-2 victory on the day, one that puts them into a sixth consecutive Women’s Champions League final, where they will bid for a fourth European crown.