Barcelona 5-1 Wolfsburg - Women's Champions League: Player ratings as Barça take semi-final initiative
By Sean Walsh
Barcelona have one foot in the Women's Champions League final after an emphatic 5-1 semi-final first leg win over Wolfsburg.
A Camp Nou record crowd of 91,648 bore witness to a scintillating Blaugrana display as Jonatan Giraldez's side ran out heavy winners.
Ballon d'Or Feminin holder Alexia Putellas nearly put the hosts ahead with less than 60 seconds on the clock after Wolfsburg failed to track her run in behind, but her effort was straight at goalkeeper Almuth Schult.
But Barcelona did take the lead just seconds later through Aitana Bonmati. The midfielder made a great run onto Fridolina Rolfo's free-kick, catching centre-backs Kathrin-Julia Hendrich and Dominique Janssen sleeping, and this time Schult was powerless to prevent a goal.
Rolfo and Ana Maria Crnogorcevic both nearly added a second as Barça's fast start continued, but they both dragged their shots wide of the Wolfsburg net.
In the tenth minute, Caroline Graham Hansen finally doubled the lead, grabbing a superb goal against her former club. Crnogorcevic gave Janssen the slip way too easily and released the Norwegian, sitting Joelle Wedemeyer on her backside and finishing cooly.
At the other end, Svenja Huth was twice denied - first by a last-ditch clearance from Irene Paredes and then a close-range save from Sandra Panos.
Schult had to be on hand to prevent Hendrich from scoring an own goal, but again wasn't able to stop Barcelona from scoring when Jennifer Hermoso added a third, sweeping home Marta Torrejon's cutback.
Putellas netted Barça's fourth shortly before the break when she met Patricia Guijarro's ball between the centre-backs, with Schult tipping the initial effort onto the post before the 28-year-old tapped in the rebound.
Barcelona had the ball in the net for a fifth time when Crnogorcevic tapped in after Paredes' header from a corner was spilled by Schult, but the flag was up for offside.
A wonderful Blaugrana move saw Torrejon go one-on-one with Schult but again the veteran German came to Wolfsburg's rescue.
Huth's lob over Panos fell the wrong side of the post as the visitors tried to muscle their way back into the tie, and Jill Roord thought she had pulled one back after being slipped through by Tabea Wassmuth but the flag was raised. However, after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was allowed to stand.
Substitute Claudia Pina had a strike tipped onto the bar by Schult as the hosts looked to restore their four-goal lead, before fellow sub Asisat Oshoala was twice denied by the busy goalkeeper.
Barça were awarded a penalty when Janssen brought down Putellas, and the midfielder stepped up to slot home from the slot and round off Friday's scoring.
Barcelona vs Wolfsburg: Women's Champions League - Player ratings
1. Barcelona (4-3-3)
GK: Sandra Panos - 6/10 - A spectator for the most part.
RB: Marta Torrejon - 9/10 - Tortured Rauch and Janssen down the right flank, galloping forward with such ease and majesty.
CB: Irene Paredes - 8/10 - Played a huge role at both ends, clearing Huth's shot and roaming forward to distribute play.
CB: Mapi Leon - 7/10 - Most of Wolfsburg's chances came down her side but her no-nonsense style kept the visitors largely at bay.
LB: Fridolina Rolfo - 9/10 - What a performance. Every time Rolfo went forward it felt like she was going to create a goal.
CM: Patricia Guijarro - 8/10 - Danced through Wolfsburg's porous midfield with such ease.
CM: Aitana Bonmati - 10/10 - Opened the scoring and was keen to add to it one way or another.
CM: Alexia Putellas - 10/10 - Yeah, it was very easy to tell that Putellas was the captain and Ballon d'Or Feminin holder here. Every pass and shot was weighted perfectly.
RW: Caroline Graham Hansen - 9/10 - Lionel Messi would have been proud to have put in such a performance on the right-wing for Barcelona. Hansen was ghosting past defenders at will and was good value for her goal contributions.
CF: Jennifer Hermoso - 8/10 - Led from the front well and eventually got in on the scoring act.
LW: Ana Maria Crnogorcevic - 9/10 - Roamed across the frontline to give different Wolfsburg defenders headaches.
SUB: Claudia Pina (74' for Crnogorcevic) - 8/10
SUB: Asisat Oshoala (74' for Hermoso) - 7/10
SUB: Mariona Caldentey (81' for Bonmati) - N/A
SUB: Leila Ouahabi (88' for Putellas) - N/A
SUB: Ingrid Syrstad Engen (88' for Graham Hansen) - N/A
2. Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1)
GK: Almuth Schult - 8/10 - Did all she could to keep the score down.
RB: Joelle Wedemeyer - 2/10 - Left so much space for Barcelona attack and they duly obliged.
CB: Kathrin-Julia Hendrich - 1/10 - Terrible. May as well have been acting as an extension of Schult as she offered little help any further off the goal line.
CB: Dominique Janssen - 1/10 - A truly horrendous display, constantly dragged out of position and unable to hold the offside line. Oh, and gave away a penalty.
LB: Felicitas Rauch - 2/10 - Swarmed by Barcelona's fierce right-side.
CM: Lema Lattwein - 3/10 - Cut through time and time again.
CM: Jill Roord - 5/10 - Ditto, though the midfielders were not the worst offenders particularly with just how good their opposite numbers were. Scored the consolation.
AM: Svenja Huth - 4/10 - Had a shot cleared off the line in one of the game's only 'sliding doors' moments.
RW: Alexandra Popp - 4/10 - Tried to make something happen but couldn't quite get it right.
CF: Tabea Wassmuth - 5/10 - Dropped deep and eventually made the assist for Roord.
LW: Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir - 4/10 - Lucky to have avoided a booking for simulation. Her inexperience on such a stage was obvious.
SUB: Ewa Pajor (61' for Popp) - 3/10
SUB: Rebecka Blomqvist (76' for Roord) - N/A
SUB: Turid Knaak (90' for Jonsdottir) - N/A
SUB: Sandra Starke (90' for Blomqvist) - N/A