| Club: | Barcelona Femení |
| Season: | 2024–25 |
| Chrtitle: | President |
| Chairman: | Joan Laporta |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Pere Romeu |
| Stadium: | Johan Cruyff Stadium |
| League: | Liga F |
| League Result: | 1st |
| Cup1: | Copa de la Reina |
| Cup1 Result: | Round of 16 |
| Cup2: | Supercopa de España |
| Cup2 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup3: | Copa Catalunya |
| Cup3 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup4: | UEFA Champions League |
| Cup4 Result: | Group stage |
| League Topscorer: | Ewa Pajor (10 goals) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ewa Pajor (12 goals) |
| Largest Win: | Home: Away: |
| Pattern La1: | _fcbarcelona2425h |
| Pattern B1: | _fcbarcelona2425h |
| Pattern Ra1: | _fcbarcelona2425h |
| Pattern Sh1: | _fcbarcelona2425h |
| Leftarm1: | BF0030 |
| Body1: | 00009F |
| Rightarm1: | BF0030 |
| Shorts1: | 00006A |
| Socks1: | 00006A |
| Pattern La2: | _fcbarcelona2425a |
| Pattern B2: | _fcbarcelona2425a |
| Pattern Ra2: | _fcbarcelona2425a |
| Pattern Sh2: | _fcbarcelona2425a |
| Leftarm2: | 000000 |
| Body2: | 000000 |
| Rightarm2: | 000000 |
| Shorts2: | 000000 |
| Socks2: | 000000 |
| Pattern La3: | _fcbarcelona2425t |
| Pattern B3: | _fcbarcelona2425t |
| Pattern Ra3: | _fcbarcelona2425t |
| Pattern Sh3: | _fcbarcelona2425t |
| Leftarm3: | B8F09B |
| Body3: | B8F09B |
| Rightarm3: | B8F09B |
| Shorts3: | B8F09B |
| Socks3: | B8F09B |
| Updated: | 24 November 2024 |
| Prevseason: | 2023–24 |
| Nextseason: | 2025–26 |
The 2024–25 season is the 37th season in the history of FC Barcelona Femení. The team is competing in the domestic league, the Copa de la Reina, Supercopa de España Femenina, UEFA Women's Champions League and Copa Catalunya as defending champions of the first four titles and most all-time champion of the latter. Barcelona was unable to enter the Copa Catalunya in the previous season.
A variety of transfers for 2024–25 were reported ahead of the season. In December 2023, head coach Jonatan Giráldez announced he would leave the club at the end of the 2023–24 season,[1] and in February 2024, so did goalkeeper Sandra Paños; it was also reported around this time that English goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck would join ahead of the 2024–25 season.[2] In April 2024, Roebuck signed a pre-contract with Barcelona,[3] and Polish striker Ewa Pajor was reported to have done the same.[4] Barcelona B and first team reserve player Júlia Bartel was connected with a move to Chelsea in May 2024.[5]
The previous season ended later than usual, during the summer international window, with the final 2023–24 Liga F game on 16 June 2024.[6] Barcelona had won all four trophies, for a continental quadruple, by the end of May, going into the 2024–25 season as defending champions.[7] In the days after the 2023–24 season ended, Barcelona announced the signings of Pajor, on a three-year contract,[8] and Roebuck, on a two-year contract,[9] as well as promoting assistant Pere Romeu to fill the vacant head coach position.[10] To fill the vacancy for a second assistant, and those of two other members of staff who followed Giráldez to the Washington Spirit, the club hired Enric Lluch as an assistant coach, Nacho Villamía as an analyst, and Víctor Zamora as a physical trainer. Otherwise, Romeu's staff was unchanged from the previous season.[11] Mariona Caldentey confirmed her departure from the club at the start of June, while Ariana Arias and Bartel did so towards the end of the month,[12] [13] when it was also announced that Lucy Bronze would not renew her contract.[14]
On 4 July, Barcelona signed Portuguese player Kika Nazareth from Benfica for four seasons until 2028.[15] María Pérez ended her loan spell at Sevilla, with Lucía Corrales being sent to this club on loan. Giulia Dragoni also moved to AS Roma on loan, after signing a contract renewal until 2027. On 31 July, the club also announced the signing of several players for the C team.[16]
Pre-season matches were played in August, with the first match taking place in Germany: Pajor and Nazareth made their unofficial debuts for the club, with three goal contributions between them in the 5–1 win.[17] Other pre-season games were played in Barcelona and the United States.
Ahead of the season, the nominations for the 2024 Ballon d'Or Féminin (relating to the previous season) were revealed, with eight Barcelona players nominated. Despite this, and the expectation that a player from the team would win the award for the fourth consecutive season, there were still Barcelona players who surprisingly did not receive nominations. Journalist Maria Tikas wrote that the lack of inclusion of such players was "an insult, including to the audience".[18]
In Barcelona's first match of the season, Pajor scored her first official goals for the club through two of Barcelona's three goals against Deportivo de La Coruña; described as a slow match, many of the players who had been to the Olympics were rested.[19] [20] Though these players had returned, the next two matches were also low-scoring for Barcelona.[21] [22] Some of this was attributed to the quality performance of Sevilla goalkeeper Esther Sullastres in the third league match.[23]
Barcelona ended the month and their goal drought with a 10–1 win over Granada on 28 September. Pajor scored her first hat-trick with the club and Alexia Putellas converted two penalties, with a variety of other players also getting on the scoresheet, including a Granada own goal. Barcelona also saw one goal, a header from the edge of the box by Keira Walsh, dubiously ruled out due to Putellas being apparently offside earlier in the play. Granada's goal was a long-range effort scored by former Barcelona player Ornella Vignola shortly after this. Ahead of the match, defender Marta Torrejón – one of the goalscorers, for her 70th Barcelona goal – was given a recognition award to mark her twentieth year of elite football. The ten goals set a record for Barcelona scoring at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.[24] [25] [26] [27]
A busy October started with Barcelona playing away at Madrid CFF, a match they won 8–1 despite trailing 0–1 at half time following a first half characterised by refereeing errors, including Madrid's goal that came after the ball went out of play but the referee signalled to continue. Shortly after the second half began, Barcelona equalised – through Walsh, who later added another to mark the first brace of her professional career – and went on to score eight,[28] [29] [30] the most goals scored in a second half by the team in the Liga F.[31] Putellas also scored her first goal from open play in the season to take her Barcelona career tally to 194 goals, equal with László Kubala as the fourth all-time top goalscorer for FC Barcelona.[32]
The team started their 2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League campaign away at Manchester City on 9 October. Barcelona lost 0–2 to mark their second-ever Champions League group stage defeat, and the first time they had failed to score in a Champions League group stage match, despite having more possession and more shots on target. Walsh and Fridolina Rolfö both made their 50th overall Champions League appearances, and a record attendance of 5,508 was set at Manchester's Joie Stadium. In a match of two halves, Manchester City pressed high to pose the stronger threat in the first half, scoring off a corner. Barcelona were the stronger side in the second half but their attempts to equalise did not come to fruition and City added a second goal towards the end of the match.[33] [34] [35]
On 13 October, Barcelona contested the first derbi femení in three years, following Espanyol's return to the top flight. Despite Barcelona recording a commanding 7–1 win and becoming sole leaders of the league, Espanyol had scored first and all of Barcelona's goals came in the second half. With their goal, Espanyol scored away at Barcelona for the first time in over eight years.[36] Barcelona's seven goals in thirty minutes, including three in six minutes and a hat-trick for Pajor,[37] was considered a "scandalous" achievement[38] – but there was concern of Barcelona starting to rely on second-half comebacks, unlike their typical style, and the poor shot conversion rate.
Concerns were somewhat quelled in the next game three days later[39] with a Champions League match at home against Hammarby that Barcelona won 9–0, to match their largest victory in the competition.[40] Barcelona also scored three goals in the first half, though there were still criticisms of the defensive performance, with Mundo Deportivo saying that Hammarby could have also had three first-half goals and only failed to score because they could not take their own chances. Barcelona again had a concerning first half when they returned to league action on 20 October before the international break; they achieved a 4–1 victory over Levante, including Nazareth's first official goal for the team and an improved defense but less clinical attack.[41]
After the club won Women's Club of the Year at the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony on 28 October, and Aitana Bonmatí followed Putellas to win a second consecutive Ballon d'Or Féminin,[42] these trophies were presented to the home crowd at the first match in November, at home against Eibar. The team also wore special Coldplay sponsor jerseys. Early in the game, Barcelona won a penalty when Ona Batlle was fouled in the box; Putellas took and successfully converted the penalty to score her 198th goal for Barcelona, drawing level with Luis Suárez as the joint-third all-time top goalscorer at the club.[43] [44]
Barcelona's first match against a direct league rival was away at Atlético Madrid on 9 November. Prior to the game, Atlético Madrid were second in the league with the fewest goals conceded, but Barcelona won the hard-fought game while also managing player minutes due to having a Champions League game and a Women's Clásico match later in the same week.[45] Caroline Graham Hansen had a strong game, scoring a goal and providing the assist for Bonmatí to score her 100th goal for Barcelona.[46] In the Clásico against Real Madrid, Barcelona further consolidated their sole ownership of the league with a convincing victory;[47] before the end of the match, Real Madrid fans were loudly calling for manager Alberto Toril's resignation due to their team's clear inferiority.[48] [49] In front of an Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium record crowd of 5,210, Barcelona opened scoring within three minutes through Patricia Guijarro, who also scored the second. Toward the end of the match, Putellas scored her ninth Clásico goal to take her to 199 for Barcelona and go clear of Suárez as the third all-time Barcelona goalscorer.[50]
In the Champions League, Barcelona played two back-to-back group games against SKN St. Pölten. In the first, at home, they demonstrated dominance from the start; though they did not score until after the 30th minute, they finished the first half by scoring five goals in twelve minutes to consolidate their improving all-round games. Shortly after play resumed in the second half, Clàudia Pina converted a penalty for her second of the match. St. Pölten continued with a strong defensive performance to shut out Barcelona until the 87th minute, when Graham Hansen scored to make it 7–0.[51] Besides the strong team performance, UEFA highlighted individuals, saying that Walsh and Batlle both could have been player of the match as well as the honoree Pina.[52] Three of the goals were also particularly celebrated: Walsh's powerful long-range shot that was nominated for Champions League goal of the week;[53] Pina's first goal, a jumping cowboy kick with her back to goal that was a replica of Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff's 1973 Wonder Goal;[54] and Graham Hansen's late goal slotted under the goalkeeper.
Away at St. Pölten, played instead at Viola Park in Vienna to a record crowd of 8,832 for a women's club football match in Austria,[55] Barcelona played well though more patient against a deep-defending St. Pölten. Controlling possession, Barcelona called it "a question of time" for them to score, which came in the form of a brace for Nazareth[56] soon followed by Vicky López's first Champions League goal.[57] In the second half, Putellas scored to reach 200 Barcelona goals; it was also Barcelona's 100th goal in Champions League group stage matches.
In their last match of November before another international break, Barcelona returned to conceding early in their game against Tenerife before mounting a comeback to win 5–1 in an "imperfect game".[58] [59] [60] End of year football awards handed out in November included the Tuttosport Golden Girl and related awards – with López, Bonmatí and on-loan Dragoni honoured – and the ESPN 50 Best Women's Players list. Bonmatí was again named the best women's player by ESPN, receiving a trophy, as one of thirteen players for Barcelona during 2024 named on the list, including four (Bonmatí, Graham Hansen, Caldentey and Walsh) in the top ten.[61]
| Name | Age | Goals | Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | EU | 2018 | 28 | 0 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | EU | 2019 | 62 | 0 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 | 2024 | 0 | 0 | 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defenders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Irene Paredes (4th captain) | EU | 2021 | 115 | 11 | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | EU | 2017 | 251 | 18 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | EU | 2018 | 65 | 4 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Marta Torrejón (vice captain) | EU | 2013 | 444 | 70 | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | EU | 2022 | 29 | 3 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | EU | 2023 | 52 | 8 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Midfielders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Alexia Putellas (captain) | EU | 2012 | 440 | 200 | 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Patricia Guijarro (3rd captain) | EU | 2015 | 319 | 67 | 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | EU | 2016 | 280 | 100 | 2028 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | EU | 2024 | 15 | 4 | 2028 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | EU | 2022 | 61 | 14 | 2028 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | 2022 | 92 | 6 | 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | EU | 2021 | 120 | 7 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | EU | 2023 | 54 | 10 | 2027 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Forwards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | EU | 2022 | 66 | 49 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | EU | 2017 | 144 | 61 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | EU | 2019 | 169 | 86 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | EU | 2021 | 100 | 34 | 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | EU | 2024 | 14 | 13 | 2027 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||