On Thursday, Barcelona Women will face Wolfsburg Women in the second leg of the Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie.
The Blaugrana already have one foot in the last four after cruising to a 4-1 victory in last week’s first leg in Germany.
Match preview
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Barcelona are looking to win the UWCL for the fourth time in five seasons after getting their hands on the top prize in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
They already look set to face one of Chelsea or Man City in the semi-finals following last week’s successful trip to the Volkswagen Arena, where they eased to a dominant 4-1 win thanks to efforts from Irene Paredes, Salma Paralluelo, Sydney Schertenleib, as well as a Caitlin Djikstra own goal.
Unfortunately for Barcelona, they were brought back down to earth in Sunday’s Clasico against Real Madrid, losing against their rivals for the very first time in a game where they saw a potential winner controversially ruled out before they conceded two late goals in the 3-1 defeat.
Despite being left disappointed by Sunday’s result, the Blaugrana are still on course to win a sixth consecutive Liga F title, boasting a four-point lead over Real Madrid with seven matches left to play.
Barcelona will now turn their focus back to European action, and they will be extremely confident about becoming the first team to reach seven consecutive UWCL semi-finals, given the fact that they have not lost a European home game by three goals or more since September 2012.
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Wolfsburg travel to Spain knowing they will have to produce something remarkable if they are to reach the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons.
Janina Minge‘s second-half effort proved to be a mere consolation in the first leg, with the result representing back-to-back defeats for Tommy Stroot‘s side.
As a result of the heavy 4-1 defeat, Wolfsburg are at risk of finishing the season without a trophy due to the fact they were eliminated in the DFB-Pokal Frauen quarter-finals and are six points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg have had a week to prepare for their trip to Barcelona, but their hopes of staging an unlikely comeback will be tempered by their recent away record, having won just one of their previous five competitive away matches (D1, L3).
The German side have won three of their previous four European away matches against Spanish teams, although their most recent visit to Spain resulted in a 5-1 defeat to Barcelona in April 2022.
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Team News
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Barcelona are unable to call upon right-back Ona Batlle and attacker Kika Nazareth due to muscle and ankle injuries respectively.
Defender Fernandez and forward Paralluelo are pushing for recalls after featuring as half-time substitutes in Sunday’s Clasico.
Netherlands international Esmee Brugts is also set to come back into the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench at the weekend.
As for the visitors, they are still expected to be without the services of Merle Frohms, Camilla Kuver and Luca Papp.
Defender Kathrin Hendrich is unlikely to be involved, having been absent from the last three matchday squads due to an injury issue.
Stroot could be tempted to make a couple of alterations from the first leg, with Vivien Endemann and Sveindis Jonsdottir both in contention to start Thursday’s second leg.
Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:
Coll; Fernandez, Paredes, Leon, Brugts; Bonmati, Guijarro, Putellas; Graham, Paralluelo, Pajor
Wolfsburg Women possible starting lineup:
Borbe; Wilms, Dijkstra, Minge; Jonsdottir, Huth, Lattwein, Wedemeyer; Endemann, Beerensteyn, Popp
We say: Barcelona Women 3-1 Wolfsburg Women
Barcelona will be determined to bounce back following Sunday’s Clasico defeat, and we think they will take advantage of a Wolfsburg side that will have to take risks to get back into the tie, which is why we believe the hosts will claim another comfortable victory over the German side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
