UWCL 2022 Wolfsburg - Barcelona match facts
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Article body
Holders Barcelona are on the verge of a third UEFA Women's Champions League final in four seasons thanks to an emphatic first-leg victory against two-time winners Wolfsburg.
• Early goals from Aitana Bonmatí (3) and Caroline Graham Hansen (10) put the reigning champions in control at the Camp Nou on 22 April, before Jennifer Hermoso (33) and Alexia Putellas (38) opened up a four-goal advantage. Jill Roord (70) briefly cut the deficit, but Putellas converted an 85th-minute spot kick to round of a commanding victory in front of 91,648 spectators – an all-time UEFA and FIFA women's attendance record.
• That extended Barcelona's winning run to 45 successive matches in all competitions, their last defeat coming back in June 2021 – a 4-3 Primera División loss at Atlético Madrid.
• Wolfsburg had won their first three encounters with Barcelona. The teams' last fixture before this season came at the semi-final stage in 2019/20, current Barcelona forward Fridolina Rolfö scoring the only goal for the Frauen-Bundesliga club in the 58th minute.
• Die Wölfinnen were also victorious against Barça in the 2013/14 quarter-finals, winning 5-0 on aggregate (3-0 h, 2-0 a).
• The She-Wolves have lost only one of their previous six UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final ties, going down 3-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain in 2014/15 (0-2 h, 2-1 a).
• Wolfsburg secured a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League last four for the seventh time with a 3-1 aggregate win against Arsenal. Only Lyon (12) and 1. FFC Frankfurt (eight) have reached more semi-finals.
• Barça reached the last four this season for the fourth successive campaign with a 5-2 comeback victory against Real Madrid in the quarter-final second leg to complete an 8-3 aggregate success.
• The Blaugranes have progressed in two of their three previous semi-final ties, their only failure coming against Wolfsburg in 2019/20.
Ones to watch: Wolfsburg
Jill Roord
• Roord's first-leg consolation goal came on her 25th birthday.
• That strike took her to five goals in this season's UEFA Women's Champions League, qualifiers included; that is her second-most prolific campaign in the competition behind the eight she scored for Twente in 2015/16.
• The Dutch international has hit nine goals in her last six appearances for club and country, including a hat-trick in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying win against Cyprus on 8 April.
• The midfielder's goal in the Camp Nou was her 17th for Wolfsburg in all competitions, fewer than only Tabea Wassmuth (19) this season.
Almuth Schult
•The goalkeeper made 16 saves in the first leg despite conceding five goals.
• The 31-year-old kept out two penalties in the 3-0 shoot-out victory against Bordeaux in UEFA Women's Champions League Round 2 on 8 September, following a 5-5 aggregate draw.
• Schult has won 13 major honours in her nine campaigns with Wolfsburg – including the UEFA Women's Champions League in her first season – having joined from SC 07 Bad Neuenahr in May 2013.
• Part of the Germany side that won UEFA Women's EURO 2013, will join American outfit Angel City FC after this summer's Women's European Championship.
Tabea Wassmuth
• The 25-year-old failed to score in the first leg, the second successive UEFA Women's Champions League in which she had drawn a blank, but did provide the assist for Roord's consolation goal.
• The attacking midfielder has struck three times in her last five appearances for club and country, including in both recent league and cup meetings against Bayern München.
• The German international has scored five goals across her last seven Wolfsburg home outings, including a double in the 4-0 win against Chelsea on Matchday 6.
• Wassmuth is Wolfsburg's top scorer this season with 19 goals in all competitions, nine of those coming in the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Ones to watch: Barcelona
Caroline Graham Hansen
• The 27-year-old has scored in her last two UEFA Women's Champions League appearances, including Barcelona's second in the 5-1 first-leg victory. She has never scored in three successive games in the competition.
• Graham Hansen won eight major honours in five years with Wolfsburg prior to joining Barça in May 2019, scoring 51 goals in 133 appearances for the Frauen-Bundesliga side.
• The attacker hit her side's final goal in the 4-0 victory against Chelsea in last season's final in Gothenburg.
• The Norwegian international has been named in the UEFA Women's Champions League Squad of the Season in each of the last two campaigns.
Asisat Oshoala
• The 27-year-old returned to action as a 73rd-minute substitute in the first leg following an eight-week lay-off with a thigh injury.
• Despite an injury-hit campaign, the Nigerian international has still managed 20 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions for the Blaugranes – scoring seven goals in the space of five matches before her recent absence.
• The forward has four goals in her last five UEFA Women's Champions League starts, scoring one and setting up a further two in the 4-1 Matchday 1 win against former club Arsenal.
• Oshoala's first UEFA Women's Champions League goal came as a substitute in Barça's 4-1 final defeat by Lyon in May 2019.
Fridolina Rolfö
• The 28-year-old set up Bonmatí's opening goal in the first leg, her sixth assist in this season's UEFA Women's Champions League – the joint highest along with Lyon's Selma Bacha.
• The forward joined Barça in the summer after a two-year spell with Wolfsburg, with whom she was a runner-up in this competition in 2019/20 – scoring the semi-final winner against Barcelona.
• Rolfö won the Frauen-Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in her first season with Die Wölfinnen in 2019/20 before retaining the German Cup the following campaign.
• The Swedish international was named Player of the Match for successive group stage games, providing two assists in the Matchday 4 win in Hoffenheim before scoring one and creating another in the 4-0 victory at Arsenal on 9 December.
Key stats
• Wolfsburg won their three previous home UEFA Women's Champions League matches against Spanish clubs (F19 A2).
• Die Wölfinnen have won eight of their last nine European games in Wolfsburg (L1), keeping seven clean sheets.
• Wolfsburg have won four of their previous five home matches in the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals.
• Barcelona have won their last 45 matches in all competitions and their last 11 UEFA Women's Champions League fixtures (F43 A6).
• Barcelona have lost only two of their last 24 UEFA Women's Champions League matches (W21 D1).
• The Spanish side have failed to score in just one of their last 33 UEFA Women's Champions League matches, the sole blip that 1-0 defeat against Wolfsburg in the 2019/20 semi-final in San Sebastián.
• Barcelona have scored four or more goals in eight of their last ten UEFA Women's Champions League matches.
• The Blaugrane have scored 147 UEFA Women's Champions League goals; they would be the tenth club to reach 150 in the competition.