MADRID — The first of three Clásicos in eight days felt like it was over almost before it began.
Real Madrid went into this latest meeting with Barcelona — the first of two UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal legs, with a Liga F game sandwiched in between — determined to show they were getting ever closer to competing on level terms with their rivals, an emerging power catching up with the dominant force in Spain and Europe.
That hope lasted just six minutes, when Ewa Pajor put Barça ahead. Seven minutes later, Esmee Brugts made it 2-0 and silenced the excited crowd at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium, as Barça went on to win 6-2.
“In the last three Clásicos, we’ve had chances to go ahead and we haven’t been clinical,” Madrid coach Pau Quesada said prematch. “We’ll look for 90 minutes of perfection, because 70 aren’t enough in these games.”
It proved to be an overly ambitious aim. Barcelona’s record in this fixture is near flawless — with 21 wins and just one defeat going into Wednesday’s meeting at Valdebebas — and based on this contest, there’ll be no change in that balance any time soon.
Only the supremely talented Linda Caicedo put up much resistance, her two beautifully taken goals keeping Madrid just barely in the tie. Her second-half strike, arrowed into the top corner, drew gasps and then cheers from the crowd, hopeful that there was still some life in this quarterfinal.
Overall, though, this was an often deflating experience for a Madrid side that is starting to finally feel comfortable at this level, reaching the UWCL quarterfinals for the second season in a row. But they are nowhere near matching Barcelona’s overwhelming European pedigree, perennial semifinalists and beyond.
Barça’s early opening goal came far too easily, though the final ball, Barça midfielder Patri Guijarro’s deftly scooped assist over the defense, was expertly delivered. Pajor, a familiar nemesis for Madrid, did the rest. Their second goal was bizarre, goalkeeper Misa’s save from Brugt’s header only serving to send the ball looping high up in the air, and into the net at the far post.
Misa made up for the error four minutes later, denying Pajor in a one-on-one, and there was some hope for Madrid when Caicedo made it 2-1 with her first goal against Barcelona. Caicedo’s run was perfectly timed, and she held off the challenge of Irene Paredes, before dribbling around keeper Cata Coll, who stayed on her feet as long as she could. Caicedo waited even longer.
At last, there was some noise from the crowd at the Di Stéfano, but it was short-lived. Just two minutes later, Paredes’ unstoppable header from Clàudia Pina’s corner made it 3-1 and effectively ended the contest.
Despite their superiority in this contest, Barcelona had only once scored five or more goals away at Madrid, in the Copa de la Reina semifinals in 2025. In the second half, when they extended their lead with another cool finish from Pajor and then another from Vicky López on 64 minutes, some of the home fans got to their feet and started heading for the exits.
Those who did missed Caicedo’s goal-of-the-week contender, but there was still time for Alexia Putellas to convert an 89th-minute penalty, putting the game — and probably the tie — well beyond Madrid’s reach at 6-2. Madrid’s progress in this fixture is undeniable. That long-awaited first win over Barça came, almost unexpectedly, in March 2025. But on nights like this, the gulf between the two still feels significant and difficult to bridge.
The 6-2 Clásico scoreline is a famous one from the men’s game. Seventeen years ago, in May 2009, Pep Guardiola’s Barça won 6-2 at the Bernabéu. Here, the women’s side had delivered their own piece of history.
“We’re happy,” Guijarro said postmatch. “It’s the first leg. We’ll go at 200% in the second leg too. I think we deserved the result.
“With this result it might seem like we’ll relax on Sunday, and that in the next game, with a four-goal lead, we’ll relax in the second leg. But quite the opposite. You know us.”
Madrid were outplayed in midfield, where Caroline Weir was unable to exert her usual influence and substituted after 65 minutes. Only Caicedo’s individual quality could compete, and that alone wasn’t enough.
At full time, Quesada gathered his players in a circle on the pitch, looking to lift his players’ spirits ahead of the two upcoming Clásicos. Madrid can’t afford to dwell on this loss, or on conceding six goals at home. They must find a way to pick themselves up and keep believing that a different outcome is possible, this weekend and next Thursday.
