Barca thrash Real in front of record crowd

Barcelona produced a sensational Clasico display to thrash Real Madrid and reach the Champions League semi-finals as a vibrant Nou Camp set the record attendance for a women’s football match.

Some 91,553 fans were inside the ground to witness the resounding win, breaking the attendance record set during the World Cup final between the United States and China in 1999.

Barcelona looked to have effectively killed off the tie when Maria Pilar Leon’s cross looped in after eight minutes, but Real hit back immediately and threatened an upset.

Olga Carmona converted from the penalty spot following a handball by Irene Paredes and Claudia Zornoza’s stunning strike put them ahead just after the break.

But goals in quick succession from Aitana Bonmati and Claudia Pina put Barcelona back in control, before Alexia Putellas and Caroline Graham Hansen added gloss to the success over their Spanish rivals.

The defending champions will now face Arsenal or Wolfsburg in the last four.

El Clasico lives up to record occasion

Barcelona usually play at the Johan Cruyff Stadium at the club’s training base, where they boast the best average attendance in the Spanish top flight of 2,938.

This was not their first appearance at the Nou Camp, but it did see the club sell out Europe’s biggest stadium as all 99,354 tickets were snapped up.

The official attendance recorded, though, was 91,553, beating the previous record of 90,195 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena 23 years ago – and far outnumbering the record for a women’s club game of 60,739 fans at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano in 2019.

Former Arsenal and England defender Alex Scott told DAZN the atmosphere gave her “goosebumps”.

“To see the reception the team bus got as it pulled in, the atmosphere, it’s incredible,” she said.

“When I flew in, I was thinking there was many a time we were playing Barca next door and there used to be a couple of hundred people. To have this game played here shows how far the game has come.”

What unfolded was a scintillating encounter between two of football’s biggest rivals that lived up to the occasion.

The home crowd got what they were after when Leon’s in-swinging cross from the right curled over Real Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez and into the far corner to put Barcelona in front.

But Carmona showed great composure to hold her nerve and find the bottom corner from the spot as the Nou Camp descended into a deafening cauldron of noise.

And that crowd became slightly nervy when Zornoza scored the goal of the game to put Real in front, lobbing Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Panos from distance.

But that only served to spark the home side, and their support, into life.

Bonmati leveled on the night with a smart run and finish in the 52nd minute and three minutes later Barcelona were back ahead thanks to Pina’s neat effort.

Captain Putellas then saw her strike squeeze over the line as “Barca, Barca, Barca” rang out around the Nou Camp in what was becoming more of a carnival atmosphere with every Barcelona goal.

Real were unable to cope with the European champions in full flow and Caroline Graham Hansen pounced at the far post for a fifth in the 70th minute.