Barça shows it wants to continue reigning in the Champions League by demolishing one of Europe's giants.

BarcelonaControl, possession, and hunger. Hunger for goals. Hunger to press high up the pitch. Hunger to win it all again. Barça showed with a convincing thrashing of Wolfsburg (1-4) that they want to be the queens of Europe again. The Germans, one of the continent's standout teams despite having lost momentum recently, should have been a tough nut to crack, but the Catalan side were far superior. Despite the home side narrowing the gap in the final minutes, Sydney Schertenleib, a brilliant young gun at just 18, scored the fourth to seal a convincing scoreline. Pere Romeu's Barça returned happy from the Wolfsburg Arena, a stadium where they had never won. A resounding victory, the Champions League quarterfinal tie was almost on track, awaiting the return leg on Thursday at the Johan Cruyff Stadium. Before that, the Blaugranas will host Real Madrid in a Liga F clash on Sunday at Montjuïc. It could be a magical week.

In Germany, they had to shake off the respect that Wolfsburg always commands and remain true to the ideals that make Barça play delightful football and that have led them to be the best team in Europe in recent years. In what was set to be the most difficult match of the season so far, the reigning champions took to the pitch very focused. Romeo held nothing back. The occasion deserved it. The only change in the starting lineup was obligatory: a notable Jana Fernández filled the void left by the injured Ona Batlle. In the engine room, Patri Guijarro protected Aleixa Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí, who, along with a brilliant Mapi León, were responsible for supplying the attacking triplet. Barça came out with a lot of firepower: Caroline Graham Hansen, Ewa Pajor, and Salma Paralluelo.

Unstoppable Connection Graham Hansen - Aitana

During the opening minutes, Wolfsburg managed to maintain a tight duel, with almost nothing happening in the penalty areas, apart from a few timid approaches from the Blaugrana. Until an almost unstoppable connection was activated. Half an hour into the match, Graham Hansen sent a precise, purposeful pass behind Janina Minge, looking for the run of an undetectable and tireless Aitana. The San Pedro de Ribes native reached the byline and delivered a tense pass at the near post that Pajor, with the tip of her boot, would lead to Caitlin Dijkstra's own goal. Barça had done the difficult thing: open the scoring. With the score in their favour and the game under control, the break would go in.

After the restart, Romeu's team punished their opponents in just three minutes. First, Irene Prades sent a corner kicked by Mapi León into the back of the net. With Wolfsburg forced to attack, the Germans were in a mess, and Barça took advantage of it to score a counterattack goal, fortunately finished by Salma Paralluello. The Catalans smelled blood and didn't have enough. After the third, they looked for a fourth. Salma had it just around the corner, and she could have scored a double after a beautiful play that ended with Pajor assisting the winger, who finished under Anneke Borbe's legs. However, the play was ruled offside. Pere Romeu's team was having fun against a shattered opponent who needed to attack, but if they let their defense go, they knew Barça could destroy them in front of their fans.

The Blaugrana, however, eased off a bit, also a result of the effort they'd put in throughout the match and the relaxation of feeling so superior, and Wolfsburg managed to extract some energy. In just the home side's third approach of the entire match and on their first corner in almost 80 minutes, they managed to reduce the deficit. Janina Minge, too alone at the far post, fired in a superb header to reduce the deficit. Until a hurricane struck: Sydney Schertenleib, who came on in the final minutes, scored the fourth with a very tight curling shot from the edge of the box and, with two more shots, should have even scored a couple more goals. It was the first time they'd played in a Champions League quarterfinal. Barça has a present and a future.