Barça close in on quadruple with 8-0 Copa triumph
Barcelona hammered Real Sociedad 8-0 to win the Copa de la Reina in Zaragoza on Saturday as they moved one step closer towards completing a first ever quadruple.
Barça’s triumph at La Romareda sealed a domestic treble, with Liga F and the Spanish Supercopa already wrapped up, and now just Lyon stand between them and a four trophy season when the two teams meet in next weekend’s Champions League final.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, NWSL more (U.S.)
Ona Batlle, Caroline Graham Hansen and Mariona Caldentey all helped themselves to braces against La Real, with Salma Paralluelo and Clàudia Pina also on target as Barça won the Copa for a record-extending 10th time in the club’s history.
“The objective is always to score as soon as possible, so that always helps,” forward Caldentey told TVE after the game.
“We’ve been playing well and when that happens, we all score, we all assist and it’s a big win which we are really happy with.
“We are in good form. That is three out of four trophies now, so we have one to go.”
Raul Terrel/Europa Press via Getty Images
It took just five minutes for full-back Batlle to open the scoring and the final was effectively over as early as the 13th minute when Paralluelo headed home to double the Blaugrana‘s lead.
A quick-fire double from Graham Hansen then extended Barça’s lead to four and took the Norway winger’s goal tally for the season to 32 in all competitions.
Batlle added the fifth, her second, before half-time and Barça showed no signs of easing up after the break, with two strikes from Caldentey sandwiching an effort from Pina set up by Caldentey, before the hour mark.
The scoring ended there but Barça had already racked up the biggest-ever win in a Copa de la Reina final, bettering the 6-1 victory they recorded against Huelva in 2022.
Barça now set their signs on Lyon, with coach Jonatan Giráldez, who will take over at NWSL side Washington Spirit this summer, aiming to go out by creating more history.
The Catalan club have never previously won all four trophies in a single campaign but they are now one win away from doing just that.
However, standing between them and a fourth trophy of the season are French champions Lyon, who they have never previously beaten.
Barça, the current European champions, will appear in a fourth consecutive Champions League final in Bilbao next Saturday and their fifth since 2019, of which they have won two.
The two they have lost, though, have both been against Lyon, who have won the competition eight times, more than any other side.
