Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 4-2 in the second leg on Sunday and won the tie 5-3 on aggregate, a night Aitana Bonmati called one of the most special of her career as she returned from a long injury in front of 60,000 people at Spotify Camp Nou.
The scoring swung constantly. Dallmann equalised for Bayern before Alexia Putellas restored Barcelona's lead to make it 2-1; Pajor then pushed the advantage to 3-1 and Putellas added a fourth for Barcelona, while Harder later pulled one back for Bayern to make the final score 4-2 and leave the aggregate 5-3.
The numbers underline what the result means: Barcelona have reached the Champions League final for the seventh time and for the sixth season in a row, and they will travel to Oslo to face Lyon on 23 May. A win would be Barcelona's fourth Champions League title, a haul that would draw them level with Eintracht Frankfurt; Lyon will be chasing a record-extending ninth title.
After the match Bonmati, speaking to Disney+, said she was delighted to be back after a lengthy lay-off and described the occasion — coming back at Spotify Camp Nou before 60,000 fans and beating Bayern to reach another Champions League final — as among the most special moments of her career. She also said she had been struggling during the week and became emotional when substituted, and that recovery had been a roller‑coaster with ups and downs.
Putellas, who found the net twice, was also visibly moved on the touchline after she was taken off; teammates consoled and celebrated with her. Putellas said she had been holding back emotion all week and that seeing the change triggered everything she had been feeling. Midfielder Patri Guijarro told her she was the best and urged the team to hold on — a promise that sent Barcelona through to Oslo.
Barcelona arrive in the final with recent European pedigree: their first title came in Gothenburg in 2021, they lifted the trophy again in Eindhoven in 2023 by beating Wolfsburg, and they beat Lyon in Bilbao in 2024. The club first reached a final in 2019 — a 4-1 defeat to Lyon in Budapest — and their run of finals includes both victories and painful losses, including a defeat to Lyon in Turin in 2022.
The match itself offered the tension that has become familiar in Barcelona's Champions League nights: adversity met by individual resolve. Bonmati's return from injury and Putellas's admission that she had been struggling all week sit uneasily beside the players' decisive contributions on the pitch. Barcelona's ability to turn those fragile moments into goals and a winning aggregate score has become a defining feature of their recent campaigns.
That resilience will be tested again in Oslo. Lyon booked their place in the final by overturning a first-leg deficit to beat Arsenal 3-1, and the two clubs will meet in a fourth European final between them. Barcelona now carry the momentum of a full Camp Nou and two late Putellas goals to a match that will decide whether they add a fourth Champions League crown or whether Lyon extend their record to nine.
Bonmati returned to the interviews still processing the night: happy, grateful and aware of the work ahead. For Barcelona, the next chapter is fixed — a Champions League final in Oslo on 23 May — and the question now is whether this group, battle-tested and often emotional, can convert another shot at history into a fourth title.
