The UEFA Womens Champions League returns this Wednesday with the quarter-final exit parties. For FC Barcelona Femení, the first challenge is Brann Kvinner Norwegian, one of the surprises of the tournament which comes to finish second in its group as an accompanist of one of the all-time favorites, Olympiakos of Lyon. For those of Jonatan Giráldez, it will be the first run in a new final in search of the bicampeonato.
However, the coach made it clear in the previous press conference that the culés will not relax, not much more, on his visit to Norway. “We know how difficult it is to win every party and in the Champions League it’s always more complicated, think we could see that in the group stage,” Giráldez argued.. Barca finish first in the group, ahead of Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt and Rosengard.
A new step to seek the bicampeonato in the Champions
In this sense, the culés come to suffer the only sting so far in the Champions on the last day of the group stage. Last January 31, Barca drew in his visit to Benfica (1-1) and could not close the group stage with puntaje perfectly. From here, Giráldez highlights the importance of dealing with qualifying smartly, taking the advantage he assumes will close the key in Catalonia next week.
“Eliminating the champions always presupposes because you know you have to play another party at home, but what we will never do is give up our idea, our style and our mentality, that is to go out and win the party.”. In their other visits to the tournament, Barca added wins in Germany ahead of Eintracht (1-3) and Sweden against Rosengard (0-6).
Brann Kvinner, a complex rival space
In the group stage, Bran proved to be a very complicated opponent, especially as a home team. The Norwegians yielded only one draw as the local (2-2) and one defeat was (3-1), both ahead of Lyon, adding 13 points with 9 goals for and 7 against. Based on the league, the team comes to fall on Saturday in his visit to LSK Kvinner (4-2), a party where the majority of headlines rested.
For Jonatan Giráldez, the duel promises to be very difficult both for the opponent and the conditions of the field. “It’s a complicated party because it’s some rooms, because we’re playing on a field with artificial grass, because it’s going to be cold there, because they’re playing at home and his fans have won, they’re motivated…”commented the Barcelona coach.
Barca are confident of keeping their unbeaten run this season
Furthermore, Barca are confident of keeping the invicto in 2023/24. With a place in the Glass of the Queen final secured (ahead of Real Sociedad on May 18) and the championship is heading (nine point advantage, with Classical to contest next Sunday), the culés keep the steady step towards the trio that eluded them last season by an unwarranted alignment in Glass.
In total, Barça maintains an invicto 30 parties in the season. Of the Champions, the main threats to some hypothetical semi-finals are Lyon and Chelsea, who this Tuesday took their first solid step up the rankings by winning away from Benfica (1-2) and Ajax (0-3), respectively. The other key to the quarter are BK Hacken and Paris Saint-Germain, with the French as clear favourites. Barring a capital upset, the four group stage leaders must be sorted to continue their careers from a team to the final to compete in Saint Mamés on 25 May.
Technical index card of the party: SK Brann Kvinner vs FC Barcelona Femení
- Party: SK Brann Kvinner vs FC Barcelona
- Competition: UEFA Womens Champions League
- Stage: Asane Sand (Bergen, Norway)
- TV: Wednesday 20 March 2024 from 21:00 (9:00 pm CET)