The task awaiting Manchester City on Wednesday evening is nothing short of the toughest in women’s football. It is why, when asked if their opponents are the “best team in the world”, neither the head coach, Gareth Taylor, nor captain, Alex Greenwood, had the slightest hint of hesitation in answering “yes”. They are correct. These are the European champions. Barcelona.
The team that have won the Women’s Champions League twice in a row, the team that contains both of the past two Ballon d’Or winners, and the team that is averaging five goals a game in their domestic league, will visit at a sold-out Joie Stadium and provide the most forensic assessment yet of how far Manchester City have come as a team in the three and a half years since their most recent meeting.
Taylor’s team have waited, frustrated, since 2021 to get themselves back into Europe, having lost 4-2 on aggregate to Barcelona in the quarter-final stage that year. Only two players from that City starting lineup remain – Greenwood and Chloe Kelly – amid a period of significant transition. It is now up to Taylor’s class of 2024 to show what they are made of against Spanish royalty.
“It’s great to be back,” Taylor said. “We want to see the best players on the best stage and I think this is what it is. They’re the best team in the world, certainly over the last four or five years. Before that, it was Lyon. Barcelona have really dominated. But we certainly don’t feel like we’ve got a free hit tomorrow. It’s a really good opportunity for us to see where we are.”
Taylor acknowledged that Barcelona could hit his team “right, left and centre”, but he also believes his own side have the potential to cause the visitors, who have reached five of the past six European finals, significant problems. Yet City also know Barcelona are arriving in England in terrific form. They have won 18 Spanish top-flight league fixtures in a row, stretching back to mid-February, and so far this season have played five, won five, scored 25 and conceded only three.
It is not just the presence of the reigning Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, nor her predecessor Alexia Putellas, in Barça’s armoury that mean this side commands global respect. The Netherlands international Esmee Brugts, the Sweden winger Fridolina Rolfö, and of course the England midfielder Keira Walsh, a player who completed 744 passes in this competition last term, also contribute to their fearsome reputation. Indeed according to Opta, the four players with the highest pass completion per 90 minutes in the Champions League last campaign all came from Barcelona.
They also have new arrivals, none more impressive so far than the Poland striker Ewa Pajor, who is currently top scorer in Spain’s top flight with six league goals following her summer move from Wolfsburg.
“As a team we’re excited to test ourselves against the best,” said Greenwood. “They’re the champions for a reason and we’ll massively respect Barcelona tomorrow but we’ll try and impose ourselves on them. I think we’re in a competition we belong in.”
This is City’s long-awaited first appearance in the Women’s Champions League group stages. Since the format was introduced in 2021, Barcelona have lost only one of their 18 group fixtures, a defeat away to Bayern Munich in December 2022. They have won 16 of the other 17, recording a single draw; a 4-4 thriller away to Benfica in January this year, on a night when they had already secured qualification for the knockout stage as group winners.
The task facing City is to make another small dent in an almost unblemished record.
