The third round of matches in the group stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League played this week was filled with interesting clashes, one of which saw Barcelona Femeni face FC Rosengard away from home. Both sides faced each other last season and were drawn into the same group again this season, along with Benfica, to set up an interesting round of games amongst the teams.
In similar fashion to last season’s encounter, Barcelona proved to be an insurmountable challenge for the Swedish club, which struggled against the defending champions. The Catalan giants completely dominated the game from start to finish and scored six goals in the process while maintaining a clean sheet.
With the club currently facing an injury crisis that’s keeping almost half of their key players out of action, head coach Jonatan Giraldez had to look towards the club’s academy, La Masia to pick out talents to fill in for the missing squad members.
Among the selected were Vicky Lopez, Guilia Dragoni, Martina Fernandez, and Julia Bartel, of whom the latter three were handed their Champions League debuts on the night.
Coming off the bench to replace Aitana Bonmati, Ingrid Engen and Patri Guijarro, the young players made their debut appearances in the Champions League for Barcelona.
The moment will eventually prove to be unforgettable for both players, with Barcelona already heading towards another statement win when they were introduced. Julia Bartel slotted into the game quite easily, barely losing possession of the ball, and showed good understanding with Keira Walsh in the midfield.
However, Martina Fernandez will be the happiest of both debutants as the defender marked her debut appearance with a goal. She scored Barcelona’s sixth goal in added time after connecting with Claudia Pina’s delivery from a Barcelona corner.
Both youngsters were part of an incredible performance that maintains Barcelona position at the top of the group rankings with three wins out of three games played.
