{"id":79554,"date":"2025-11-13T12:03:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=79554"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:03:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:03:47","slug":"can-anyone-stop-barcelona-from-reclaiming-the-womens-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/11\/can-anyone-stop-barcelona-from-reclaiming-the-womens-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Anyone Stop Barcelona from Reclaiming the Women&#8217;s Champions League?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If there was doubt, it\u2019s been quashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three games into their UEFA Women\u2019s Champions League campaign, and last year\u2019s runners-up have made their intent clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having featured in each of the last five UWCL Grand Finals, Barcelona Femeni have been comfortably the best team in Europe since the turn of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following last summer\u2019s shock 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the UWCL Final, their dream of a stunning three-peat was ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in the aftermath of that pain, it looked like the walls were crumbling down around the incredible dynasty that the Barca Femeni has created over the last five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Barcelona continue to lose players due to financial struggles. The team will reportedly be tightening their roster to fewer players\u2013currently at 17. Fans are outraged &#8211; claiming Barcelona is unfairly cutting costs with the women&#39;s squad, in order to preserve the men&#39;s side. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4spNhINoMl\">pic.twitter.com\/4spNhINoMl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; The Women&#39;s Game (@WomensGameMIB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WomensGameMIB\/status\/1955298891986850290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 12, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading into the 2026\/27 season, Barca Femeni were facing an uphill battle, with only 17 first-team players registered a week out from their season opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These issues stemmed from the financial regulations imposed by La Liga, which heavily impacted the FC Barcelona men\u2019s team and forced the club to cut costs across other areas of the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, Aitana Bonmati and Co. were paying for the sins of the FC Barcelona men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And many years of mismanagement from the previous board of directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ca\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc99 BAR\u00c7A FEMEN\u00cd 2025\/26 \u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bqDeKvy5oR\">pic.twitter.com\/bqDeKvy5oR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; FC Barcelona Femen\u00ed (@FCBfemeni) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCBfemeni\/status\/1987928241047261590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 10, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Six major departures stunned the rest of the women\u2019s football world, with key players like Fridolina Rolf\u00f6 and Ingrid Engen leaving the Catalan club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the outside, it looked like the fabled Barcelona Women\u2019s team was in dire trouble, but they\u2019ve wasted no time silencing the noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten games into the La Liga F, and their start has been almost perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nine wins, 47 goals scored, and only two conceded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Barcelona Femen\u00ed have won all but one of their Liga F matches this season, averaging over five goals per game \ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8\ud83d\udd25 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Cx2tMGStjn\">pic.twitter.com\/Cx2tMGStjn<\/a><\/p>&mdash; OneFootball (@OneFootball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OneFootball\/status\/1987529066690576559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 9, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>They started their title defence with a powerful 8-0 victory at home, before defeating Athletic Club 8-1 on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Six consecutive cleansheets followed, with a particularly compelling 6-0 victory away against Atletico Madrid signifying their ruthless style of play. It remains Atleti\u2019s only defeat of the Liga F season so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A shock 1-0 defeat against Real Sociedad marked their first game in over five years without finding the back of the net. 2,108 days to be exact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the 8-0 victory they delivered in response reaffirmed that this was just a small glitch in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps they\u2019re not as invincible as the year\u2019s previous, but in no way have they lost their killer instinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019ll take more than a single defeat to dethrone Barcelona Femen\u00ed from the top of Liga F \ud83d\udd1d\ud83d\ude0e <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kgMD8zVTdG\">pic.twitter.com\/kgMD8zVTdG<\/a><\/p>&mdash; OneFootball (@OneFootball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OneFootball\/status\/1985036011706237100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 2, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Top of the table in the league. And in the UWCL, the story is much the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After three Champions League matchdays, Barca Femeni sit top of the league with three wins in three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Commencing their UWCL campaign at home, the Barcelona Women struck seven times against heavyweights Bayern Munich, cruising to a scintillating 7-1 victory that served to remind critics that form is temporary, and class is permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"de\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 FT: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FCBarcelonaFemen%C3%AD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FCBarcelonaFemen\u00ed<\/a> 7-1 FC Bayern M\u00fcnchen. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FCBLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FCBLive<\/a> \ud83d\udd35\ud83d\udd34 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IYF5zEcStK\">pic.twitter.com\/IYF5zEcStK<\/a><\/p>&mdash; infosfcb (@infosfcb) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/infosfcb\/status\/1975666998811218284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 7, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>They followed up with a clinical 4-0 demonstration over AS Roma, before defeating Oud-Heverlee Leuven 3-0 to climb into first place ahead of Olympique Lyonnes, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Real Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With off-field issues casting a dark cloud over the start of this Barcelona Femeni campaign, and the rise in opposition in the women\u2019s space, it would be easy to write the Barca Women off as past their best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But even with high-profile departures, financial issues, and a target on their backs that comes from such a period of success, it takes far more than that to knock these women from their perch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barcelona, after all, is the home to three-peat Ballon d\u2019Or winner Aitana Bonmati. They also house Salma Paralluelo, who has finished third on the podium in back-to-back seasons, and Alexia Putellas, who won the Golden Ball twice before Aitana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Three times in a row! <br>Aitana Bonmati wins the women\u2019s ballon dor 2025\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YtoaWUnBcK\">pic.twitter.com\/YtoaWUnBcK<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Urban Insight \ud83d\udea8\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udded (@urbaninsight_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/urbaninsight_\/status\/1970228001544802594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With the fresh 18-team league phase format taking effect this year (after being introduced last year for the men), Barcelona Femeni stand proudly at the summit and will no doubt have the firepower and desire to lift the Champions League trophy again!<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If there was doubt, it\u2019s been quashed. Three games into their UEFA Women\u2019s Champions League campaign, and last year\u2019s runners-up have made their intent clear. Having featured in each of the last five UWCL Grand Finals, Barcelona Femeni have been comfortably the best team in Europe since the turn of the decade. Following last summer\u2019s shock 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the UWCL Final, their dream of a stunning three-peat was ended. And in the aftermath of that pain, it looked like the walls were crumbling down around the incredible dynasty that the Barca Femeni has created over the last&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":79555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9440,8,598,344],"tags":[173],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-79554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-unpopular-opinions","category-soccer","category-special-interest","category-sports","tag-football"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"13\/11\/2025","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79554"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=79554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}