Once again Barcelona are the champions of the Women's Super Cup. For the third time in a row, for the fourth time in five years, the Blaugrana won their first title of the season after mercilessly defeating Levante (7-0) yesterday. They did it this Saturday at the Butarque Municipal Stadium. Another procedure. Giráldez's team finished an almost perfect tournament.
Between the classic against Real Madrid in the semi-finals and the final against Levante, the Blaugranas scored 11 goals and conceded none. And they came to Leganés this Supercup week without some of their supports (Alexia, Mapi León, Rolfö and Jana Fernández, injured). But absences can't be a cause for concern either.
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Levante could do little to return to the Supercup final three years later. The Granotas, second in Liga F, had hoped to end their streak against the Blaugrana: they have not beaten Barça since 2017 (one draw and 13 defeats). After Sánchez Vera defeated Atlético in an agonizing semi-final that was only decided in extra time, he proposed a scheme with two rows of four very close together, in which the culés had almost no room to move in the gaps. The entire offensive weight was on Alba Redondo and especially on Mayra Ramírez. The Colombian looked to score first right from the start after an overconfident mistake from Cata Coll, but Engen saved the score with a wonderful kick that put the ball over the line. The midfielder had another chance a few minutes later, but failed in a one-on-one.
Salma Paralluelo celebrates one of her two goals against Levante in the Supercup final with Ona Batlle. INMA FLORES
The terror awakened Barça and the beast. Giráldez asked his team to increase the pressure and in no time they were pushing Levante into their field. Granota's resistance lasted just 10 minutes when Salma Paralluelo scored her first goal of the night, and was in tatters at the end of the first half when the scoreboard read 5-0 after a real storm. The Spanish striker scored the first goal after a great assist from Hansen, who joined the group and scored the second with his right foot after grabbing a rebound in the penalty area. In the action following the Swede's goal, Batlle scored the third goal in a move in which Bonmatí crashed the ball onto the post. Barça didn't let Levante raise its head and struck again, with Salma and Hansen as the scorers, sealing the defeat with 45 minutes left.
The huge gap on the scoreboard favored a more dominant start for Levante in the second half. For his part, Giráldez withdrew Irene Paredes to sign 19-year-old Martina Fernández. For the first time in many minutes, the Granotas approached the Cata Coll area, although without appearing on dangerous occasions. The winner of the Ballon d'Or and The Best, Aitana Bonmatí, did not have much influence in the semi-final against Madrid and was not a protagonist in the final either.
But in one fell swoop the Spaniard slipped into the role of the best player in the world, first with the assist for Hansen's third goal and then with a great goal as he overcame Holmgren's departure. With the score at 7-0 and more than half an hour ahead, Giráldez withdrew Paralluelo, Hansen and Guijarro and brought on Oshoala, Vicky López and Claudia Pina. The Madrid native was the most applauded by the Butarque crowd due to her history with Madrid CFF and would have been close to making her mark on the game had it not been for Holmgren's great save. Barcelona's dominance wasn't as overwhelming in the final minutes, but it was enough to see them through to the final without a scratch despite Levante's attempts to score the winner. But this Barça doesn't even leave crumbs.
With this new trophy, the Blaugrana have 23 titles in their cabinet (eight leagues, two Champions Leagues, nine Copa del Rey and four Super Cups). The Blaugrana have won 11 of the last 13 domestic tournaments, making it their third Super Cup in a row. Since 2020, the only Spanish competitions that have eluded them are last year's cup and the 2021 Supercup.
However, this dominance does not diminish the ambition of Giraldez's team, whose greatest desire is to achieve the historic title poker: “This is the first one, if we win it later we will go for the next one,” said Irene Paredes in the Press conference before the final. “We are ambitious, I don’t think anyone has ever won the four possible titles in one season [Liga, Champions, Copa de la Reina y Supercopa]. “We want to continue breaking records,” the headquarters said. At the moment they already have the first one.
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