“It was difficult and complicated but we did it. Since last week we had confidence and we were looking forward to the game. With Aitana’s goal we knew that we had done the most difficult thing,” explained Patri Guijarro, who raised his head at Stamford Bridge, saw Aitana and he filtered the exquisite goal pass. After losing in Montjuïc (0-1), the Blaugrana’s comeback began to take shape. “We knew what we had to do. Defend our style. And it has turned out well,” added Cata Coll, who grew up under the sticks in a legendary stadium for Barcelona fans. “But we don’t want it to seem like this is our daily bread. If you don’t reach a final it is not a failure. You have to value all the work that is done because it seems easy but it is not. Now we’re going to go for Bilbao,” added the Balearic goalkeeper. “It will be the best, we will have many culés there. It will be like playing at home,” said Rolfö, who scored the penalty. “Yes, we dreamed of playing the final at home. Excited about what is coming,” Guijarro reasoned.
The rest was history. “We knew what we had to do. Defend our style. And it has turned out well,” added Cata Coll, who grew up under the sticks in a legendary stadium for Barcelona fans. “We don’t want this to be everyone’s bread and butter. day. If you don’t reach a final it is not a failure. You have to value all the work that is done because it seems easy but it is not. Now we are going for Bilbao,” added the Balearic goalkeeper. “It will be the best, we will have many culés there. It will be like playing at home,” said Rolfö, who scored the penalty. “Yes, we dreamed of playing the final at home. Excited about what’s to come,” Guijarro reasoned.
Before visiting San Mamés, they will lift League F. With six games to go, they lead the domestic competition with 70 points. 12 more than the second, Real Madrid. They already have the Super Cup. And they will face Real Sociedad in the final of the Queen’s Cup on May 18 in La Romareda. “From the moment we started the season, it was a goal. It is true that we have won three titles but we have never played poker,” said Gujarro, visibly excited.
On the bench Giráldez smiled. That he will lead the Blaugrana in their last final before exchanging Barcelona for the United States. Giráldez has taken Barça to the Champions League final for the third time, where he has won 26 of his 32 games. “I’m in a privileged position,” he admitted, very proud of the players’ reaction. “The defeat at home, we cannot hide that it hurt us, but we have overcome it,” he analyzed.
On the other side of the board, Emma Hayes, Chelsea coach who wanted to take her team to the final in Bilbao before taking over the bench for the American team, was not so happy. She highly criticized the referee Iuliana Demetrescu, who left Chelsea with 10 after the double yellow that Buchanan saw. “I was surprised to see this referee selected. She is famous for giving her easy cards. That red card was probably the worst decision in the history of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. We were robbed,” Hayes exclaimed.
