PARIS: Barcelona wrapped up the last quarter-final berth in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday as Ewa Pajor netted twice in a 3-0 victory over Hammarby in Sweden.
The three-time European champions were effectively already through before kick-off, leading Hammarby by six points in Group D with two games to spare and with an all but insurmountable head-to-head record after thrashing the Swedes 9-0 in October.
But a fourth straight Champions League win since an opening loss to Manchester City mathematically confirmed Barca’s place in the last eight, joining City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Lyon and Wolfsburg in progressing through the group stage.
“It feels amazing,” Barcelona’s Swedish international Fridolina Rolfo told uefa.com.
“I’m really happy that we’re here on Swedish soil and performing like this, winning away.
“It feels great, I’m happy to be back seeing my friends and family, and playing here in Sweden.”
Polish star Pajor pounced on some slack defending to slot in a seventh-minute opener.
She doubled the visitors’ lead five minutes before the break after a corner was completely missed by several defenders and Hammarby goalkeeper Anna Tamminen.
Women’s Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati completed the scoring with 10 minutes remaining with a deflected strike that dribbled past Tamminen.
Group leaders Man City maintained their three-point advantage over Barca ahead of their clash at the Olympic Stadium next week with a 2-0 win against St. Poelten.
However, City captain Alex Greenwood was stretchered off with an apparent knee injury.
Earlier, Arsenal kept alive their hopes of snatching top spot off Bayern in Group C thanks to a 3-1 win at Valerenga in which England striker Alessia Russo scored a brace.
Bayern stayed one point ahead of the Gunners before their meeting in London by thumping Juventus 4-0.
Holders Barcelona cruise into Women’s Champions League quarter-finals
https://arab.news/b2mmb
Holders Barcelona cruise into Women’s Champions League quarter-finals
Liverpool’s Slot says football must do more after Vinicius racism allegation
- The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says more needs to be done to avoid racism in football following allegations by Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr that he was subjected to racist abuse from Benfica’s Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni.
Real’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday was overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, a charge denied by the Portuguese club, the player and their manager Jose Mourinho.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said it was reviewing the incident, which led to the game being halted for 11 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
“In general you can never do enough, you can always do more to make sure this (racism in football) never happens again,” Slot told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“We have to try as a football community to do more than society does. That’s maybe not so difficult, by the way. Protocol was followed in the game, that’s the first step,” he said on Thursday.
“I would hope my players would act in a similar way — immediately address it, and the referee acts in a similar way.”
Regarding the Forest game, Slot expects a different set-up under the Midlands club’s new manager Vitor Pereira compared to the meeting in November when Liverpool lost 3-0 at Anfield.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Pereira was appointed last Sunday to replace the sacked Sean Dyche.
“We only have tonight (Thursday) to see if this new manager changes personnel,” Slot said, referring to Forest’s first game under Pereira at Fenerbahce in a Europa League playoff tie.
“The good thing is they have that game, and the manager was in the Premier League last season.”
The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed.
Slot said his side have improved over the past few months, with Liverpool sixth in the table on 42 points from 26 games.
“We have improved compared to three, four months ago. We are in a much better place than months ago,” the 47-year-old added.
“There are more reasons, but the most simple two are how fit we are and that we’re much better at set-pieces at the moment.”
Forest are languishing in 17th spot, one place and three points above West Ham United in the relegation zone.
