Alexia Putellas opened the scoring for Barca on her 500th game for the club as they crushed visiting Real Madrid in the Champions League
Barcelona (AFP) - Barcelona demolished rivals Real Madrid 6-0 on Thursday to progress to the women’s Champions League semi-finals 12-2 on aggregate.
Alexia Putellas shone for the Catalan giants on her 500th appearance for the club in their first game at the rebuilt Camp Nou, building on their 6-2 quarter-final first leg victory.
Three-time winners Barca reached an eighth consecutive semi-final, with winger Caroline Graham Hansen netting twice and Putellas also on the scoresheet in the rout.
Pere Romeu’s dominant side, runners-up to Arsenal last year, will face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals after the German side knocked out Manchester United on Wednesday.
Despite missing key player and long-term absentee Aitana Bonmati, Barca put on a tour de force to entertain a 60,000-strong crowd, the fourth-highest attendance in the competition’s history.
“We did a good job last week as a team, to be able to come here today (with the lead) and we wanted to put on a good game for all the fans who came,” Graham Hansen told TV3.
“We wanted to enjoy our return to Camp Nou with the fans and the six goals helps send everyone home happy…
“It obviously helps when you have 60,000, 80,000 or 90,000 fans because they support you and help you sink the opposition.”
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Putellas put Barca ahead early on, turning home a rebound after Misa Rodriguez saved from Ewa Pajor.
That set Barca on their way to beating Clasico rivals Madrid for a sixth time this season. They have scored 25 goals in the process against only two conceded.
Graham Hansen swiftly added the second for the Liga F leaders with a header from a Putellas cross.
Irene Paredes nodded home from a corner for Barca’s third, just as she had done in the first leg, as Madrid crumbled.
Polish striker Pajor grabbed the fourth with a close-range finish after Rodriguez struggled to push away a header.
Athenea del Castillo poked wide for Madrid shortly before half-time, spurning her team’s best chance.
Norwegian winger Graham Hansen netted Barca’s fifth early in the second half, turning away from her marker and producing a fine lofted finish.
Pajor and Graham Hansen wasted further openings as Barca continued to dominate, with Esmee Brugts notching the sixth with a tap-in after a neat move involving Patri Guijarro and Clara Serrajordi.
Barca’s jubilant fans gave Putellas a deserved ovation as she was replaced late on. The 32-year-old star is out of contract at the end of the season but there will be much clamour for her to stay with displays of this calibre.