When Barcelona signed Ewa Pajor from Wolfsburg last summer, the missing puzzle piece in their killer front line was set. The Catalan giants had been without a ruthless striker since the departure of Jenni Hermoso in 2022. Signing one of, if not the best striker in the women’s game was just the beginning for Barcelona. Combined with this, players like Clàudia Pina are enjoying the season of their lives.
The 23 year-old has found her rhythm and made the most of the opportunities awarded to her this season. The addition of the Pole was enough to bring out the best in a number of their forwards, and nothing demonstrated that more than the two games against Chelsea.
How a pouncing Pajor set the tone for the tie
Ewa Pajor’s two goals against Chelsea demonstrated the ways Barcelona have used her lethal finishing this season.
In the first leg at home, it was her ‘hit and run’ goal that put the side ahead. The assist from Alexia Putellas sets Pajor on her way. She splits the Chelsea defence with ease down the centre, pulls away from Millie Bright and Sandy Baltimore. She pulls into the box and gets her shot away.
There are several components at play here. The pass from Putellas is inch perfect to the feet of Pajor. This ensures she simply has to run onto it and take her shot. It was uncomplicated. Pajor doesn’t have to do much more than gain control and shoot.
Her ability to pull away from the Chelsea defenders is also an excellent example of her abilities as a striker. She doesn’t think twice, pouncing on the pass and making the most of the space and time she has awarded herself. Pulling away from the Chelsea rear-guard with ease, Pajor can just focus on getting the ball across the line, and not stress about the defenders encroaching on her finish.
Pajor pulling close to Hamtpon also means the goal is easier for her. Hampton does all she can, she makes herself big in an attempt to block the shot but Pajor reads it well. She shots across her own body into the far left side with her right foot, making sure her effort is well out of the reach of the Chelsea goalkeeper.
It is essentially three simple parts that equate to the goal: the pass from Putellas, Pajor’s timing and then her finishing. But in combination, they show both why Barcelona wanted Pajor and how she fits into the system. Nothing is overcomplicated but instead is ruthless to a boot and gets the job done.
Poacher Pajor puts on Stamford Bridge clinic
In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, Pajor showed another style of goal in her repertoire. Caroline Graham Hansen works the ball into the box, and confidently sees it in past Niamh Charles. The pass flies past Naomi Girma and Lucy Bronze in the centre of the box before Pajor gets on the end of it ahead of Bright.
It’s a style of goal Pajor has now scored a few times from wide delivery, a poacher’s finish denoted by a simple tap in. But in order for the simple finish, Pajor works to get the right side of Bright before the ball comes in, to make sure there is no way the defender gets to the ball first. It is simply nothing more than that, get the right side and tap it home. But it shows Pajor’s quick thinking and experience as a centre forward, to make that run in and see it home.
They are, to the core, simple and effective goals. They encompass Pajor’s play style and underline why Barcelona signed her. Barcelona had the tricky wingers and complicated finishers before but what they missed was a dangerous one in and around the six yard box. Pajor has always been a finisher of simplicity. She doesn’t need tricks and flicks to see the ball into the back of the net. The Pole makes every goal count, with a casual 37 goals in 40 appearances for Barcelona.
Pina takes her chance
Then on the flip side, you have Clàudia Pina, a player who took her chances, both figuratively and literally. With Salma Parralluelo out for a considerable amount of time at the beginning of the season, Pina was awarded a plethora of opportunities to prove her worth to this Barcelona team. And whilst Parralluelo has since returned and even started the home leg against Chelsea, Pina has shown how her confidence has directly equated to goals.
Pina’s first goal in the home tie was in many ways the exact same as Pajor’s goal at Stamford Bridge. Ona Batlle does all the work down the wing before perfectly sending it into Pina to tap it in past Hampton. There isn’t much more to pull apart from Barcelona here, it’s very much rinse and repeat. But this repetition of goals, across a number of players, means different partnerships and combinations are created.
Whilst it is easy to say that, yes, in both the Pina and Pajor goals, Chelsea’s left back on the day made a mistake, the fact that both players found themselves in the positions they end up in is a credit to their understanding and teamwork. Pina is technically playing in her usual right wing position in this sequence, but her understanding of Batlle’s intentions means she pulls centrally into the middle of the box to be on the end of the ball. It is that same sense of simple, efficient, and worthwhile finishing that has been brought to Barcelona this season.
Stunning Pina screamer
For all that’s been spoken about for simplicity in this piece, of course you then have Pina’s other two goals. Stunning in their own right, they also demonstrate the sense of confidence and finesse Barcelona have.
Pina’s second goal at the Estadi Johan Cruyff has Barcelona in it’s blood. Yes, technically, the finesse is all Putellas. It’s her footwork and back heel that means Pina can score, but Pina still has to finish. The run onto the ball and the first time finish are dripping with quality and confidence, demonstrating the level Barcelona can reach with ease, Pina was brilliant. But it’s not just the finish. The triangle passes between herself, Putellas and Patri Guijarro were also quintessential Barcelona, and impossible for Chelsea to intercept. It’s the return to the simple passes and partnerships that mean the finesse of Putellas’ movement pays off in a goal.
Pina’s goal at Stamford Bridge is all confidence. Outside of the box, surrounded by the opposition. One time to try it. Top bins. Finesse and power for days. There is nothing to analyse here other than to say, wow.
At the end of the day it comes down to this. Simplicity wins you games, finesse digs the knife in a little deeper. Faultless, efficient, and ruthless to a woman, Barcelona’s forwards dismantled Chelsea both home and away. Pajor may have been the missing piece but everyone in the jigsaw was at their best to put a cool eight goals past the Blues over the two legs. Barcelona are the scariest unit in the world. Next up? Arsenal.
