Mariona Caldentey, who this Saturday had a formidable Queen’s Cup final against Real, celebrated Barça’s new title in La Romareda right after the match after having already won the League and Super Cup. “Our goal is always to score as soon as possible. We knew what Real was capable of and we had to be prepared. We have three of four [títulos] and we have one left. An 8-0 against a team like Real Sociedad is incredible. We are very happy,” the Balearic attacker, who received the award for best player after her two goals and three assists, said still on the grass of the Zaragoza stadium. “This team demonstrates every day the ambition it has, that we want to improve everything we train. In the end it is a title that we did not win last year, and we have been saying it since the beginning of the season: we want to win all four titles. Today we have made the third, it is a day to be happy and celebrate,” she added later at the press conference.
8
Sandra Paños, Lucy Bronze, Ingrid Engen, Irene Paredes, Ona Batlle, Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmatí, Clàudia Pina, Caroline Graham Hansen, Salma Paralluelo and Mariona Caldentey
0
Elene Lete, Manuela Vanegas, Nahia Aparicio, Alejandra Bernabé, Emma Ramírez, Iris Arnaiz, Sanni Franssi, Nerea Eizagirre, Andreia Jacinto, Synne Jensen and Amaiur Sarriegi
Goals 1-0 min. 5: Ona Batlle. 2-0 min. 12: Salma Paralluelo. 3-0 min. 18: Caroline Graham Hansen. 4-0 min. 25: Caroline Graham Hansen. 5-0 min. 33: Ona Batlle. 6-0 min. 47: Mariona Caldentey. 7-0 min. 51: Claudia Pina. 8-0 min. 58: Mariona Caldentey.
Referee María Eugenia Gil Soriano
The fourth trophy that Mariona refers to is the Champions League final that Barça will fight next Saturday in San Mamés against Olympique Lyon, the great historical dominator of the competition with eight dried apricots. “We are the only team that is eligible to win all the titles, and we will go for the fourth. We know that it will be a very competitive match context, we will play the two best teams in Europe,” said the Barça coach, Jonatan Giráldez. Barça, so far, has never beaten the French team – five defeats in five games, two of them in the Champions League finals – but the Galician coach explained that he has been watching how they play for weeks and that yesterday there were Barça scouts at the stadium. Lyon during the French league final in which Olympique defeated PSG (2-1).
With the match in Bilbao already in mind, Giráldez removed Aitana Bonmatí, the current Ballon d’Or winner, at half-time. “It’s okay, but I wasn’t 100%. I had a strange feeling and with the score being so favorable we decided to make the change,” he explained. Regarding this Saturday’s match at La Romareda, the Vigo coach celebrated Barça’s overwhelming dominance. “We have been much superior. It was a day to attack spaces and the rival defensive line. We have created many chances from the fast attack and we have sought to have depth. We have had many opportunities and we have been effective,” he summarized.
The historic win – the second biggest in a Spanish football final after the 10-1 that Barça itself imposed on Real in 2020 – left the coach with a very bad taste in her mouth. txuriurdin, Natalia Arroyo, who reflected at a press conference on the hegemony of the Catalans in Spain, where this season they have not even lost a match. “We have to continue investing, continue betting, that the media provide coverage, even if some are very good and the rest of us are halfway there. Give us time and we’ll see if we can get closer. Barcelona did not start out being this. It started with several romps, one against Olympique Lyonnais,” she said, referring to the 2019 Champions League final, in which the French beat the Catalans 4-1. “It annoys me to constantly hear that one is not competitive, but the reality is that I can’t say anything, because my team today has not been competitive, and has not been up to par with Barça. “We are talking about two trains that go in different directions and speeds,” she added.
The Real coach, who will leave the team at the end of the season, said that her approach had been a disaster and lamented the lack of competitiveness today after thousands of San Sebastian traveled to Zaragoza to watch the final: “That makes a little more damage. Because when your people move and you are so far away from giving them anything back… It’s a shame that we couldn’t offer more. At some point I thought about turning around and thanking them. [por el apoyo]”.
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