Barcelona Femení made a winning start to their UEFA Women’s Champions League title defence with a thrilling 5-2 win over Paris FC, overcoming an early setback before producing a dominant attacking display. Paris FC stunned the home side after only four minutes, when Evelyne Viens capitalised on a mistake in Barcelona’s build-up and finished superbly to give the visitors an early lead.
However, Barcelona bounced back almost immediately as Kerolin Nicoli equalised in the 18th minute, finding the bottom corner after a neat through ball from Clàudia Pina.
The hosts’ resurgence gathered pace ten minutes later when Clara Serrajordi gave Barcelona the lead from a corner. They added two more goals before the break, with Ewa Pajor reacting fastest inside the box to make it 3-1, before Caroline Graham Hansen showed composure to slot in a fourth from the edge of the box and take Barcelona into the break 4-1 ahead.
Barcelona remained in control after the restart, although the tempo dropped as Paris FC defended deep for long periods. Their persistence paid off in the 69th minute when Pajor completed her brace with a slick team move.
Paris FC fought back, with Clara Mateo scoring a low goal three minutes later to pull a goal back. Paris FC threatened to score again, but Barcelona saw the game out comfortably.
The final whistle blew to hand Barcelona a 5-2 win, giving the reigning champions a great opening to their European adventure. Caroline Graham Hansen was named Player of the Match, while Pajor’s brace took her to 17 goals in the competition’s league/group stage history at the time of reporting, level with Sam Kerr.
