Champions League

St. Pölten lose to Barca in front of a record crowd!

There was nothing for the SKN ladies to take ...

(Bild: GEPA)

After a 0:7, a 1:4 at home - FC Barcelona were far too strong for SKN St. Pölten in their second clash in the Women's Champions League!

However, the Austrian serial champions performed better on Thursday in the Generali Arena in Vienna than last week in Catalonia and were therefore able to limit the defeat, including the consolation goal. The Lower Austrians are without points after four Group D games, while the Spaniards (9) are still in second place.

Only unblemished Manchester City (12), who won 2-1 at Hammarby (3), are in a better position. On December 12 (9 p.m.), St. Pölten will face the English runners-up for the second time, with defending champions Barcelona taking on Hammarby. In Vienna, Francisca Nazareth (20th, 29th) and Vicky Lopez (31st) scored before the break. Ex-world player Alexia Putellas (57) added another goal. The final goal was scored by Valentina Mädl (59) in front of a new Austrian women's club record crowd of 8832 fans.

Own mistakes led to defeat
St. Pölten coach Liese Brancao sent her heavily depleted team onto the pitch with the same personnel as in Barcelona. The first 19 minutes went absolutely to plan for the hosts, who played in a 5-4-1 system. However, a mistake of their own brought the house of cards crashing down earlier than in Spain.

Trained midfielder Kamila Dubcova, who had to play as a central defender again, was the last woman to scramble in the penalty area and Nazareth took the ball from her and slotted it into the corner. Shortly after a missed Lopez chance, the Barca striker scored her brace, this time after a pass from Esmee Brugts.

Barca really got into the mood and delighted the crowd with the best goal of the evening. Lopez made it 0:3 with a short pass, partly with her heel, after preparatory work from Patri Guijarro. St. Pölten could have been really dangerous once, but Melike Pekel tried to go it alone instead of playing into Mädl's path (37'). Shortly before the break, Anna Johanning saved a shot from Caroline Graham Hansen from the line (45').

Jubilee goal for Putella
It was not until the break that the star ensemble's Aitana Bonmati came on, with St. Pölten making a triple substitution to bring on fresh forces. Among them was the fit Ella Touon, who shot over in the 55th minute. Two minutes later, Putellas showed her class in the penalty area and scored her 200th goal for Barca after a pass from Nazareth.

After that, the home side, still unbeaten in the league, provided the highlights. A free-kick from Maria Mikolajova was pushed over the line by Mädl in the far corner. That boosted their confidence considerably and they should have scored another goal. Sarah Mattner's nerves failed her after a Touon pass from close range and she missed (75').

In Group C, Bayern Munich conceded points for the first time with Sarah Zadrazil in a 1-1 draw at Valerenga. Arsenal are now just one point behind them after a 1-0 win over Juventus. Manuela Zinsberger and Laura Wienroither did not play for the Londoners.

The result:
SKN St. Pölten - FC Barcelona 1:4 (0:3)
Vienna, Generali Arena, 8832 spectators, referee Désirée Grundbacher (SUI)

Goals: 0:1 (20.) Nazareth, 0:2 (29.) Nazareth, 0:3 (31.) Lopez, 0:4 (57.) Putellas, 1:4 (59.) Mädl

St. Pölten: Schlüter - Schumacher (46. Touon), Johanning (68. Balog), Dubcova, Vracevic, D'Angelo - Pekel (46. Krznaric), Hillebrand (46. Mattner), Mikolajova, Brunnthaler (79. Glibo) - Mädl

Quotes:
 Liese Brancao: (St. Poelten coach): "I think we played very badly when we conceded the first goal, we were in possession of the ball. Before that we were very good defensively again, after that two more goals happened. I was very happy with the second half, we scored a goal and drew. You have to achieve that first. I really liked the way we played."
Pere Romeu (Barcelona coach): "It was two different games against St. Pölten. The second half was perhaps not quite as good today. St. Pölten were good on the counter-attack and have a lot of physical quality."
Valentina Mädl (St. Pölten goalscorer): "The ball was at my feet and I knew it was the empty goal in front of me. It was an indescribable feeling for me. Scoring a goal against Barcelona at 18 is mega-cool. But what counts today is the incredible team performance, everyone ran for each other, fought for every inch."