Giraldez Marks 'Happiest Days' With Barcelona's Women's Champions League Victory

Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez celebrated a significant achievement after his team secured the Women's Champions League title. Giraldez led Barcelona to a 2-0 victory over Lyon in Bilbao on Saturday. Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas scored in the second half, marking Barcelona's first win against Lyon and their third Champions League title in four seasons.

Giraldez will now leave Barcelona to take charge of Washington Spirit in the NWSL. He departs on a high note, having won a quadruple this season, making Barcelona the first European team since Arsenal in 2007 to achieve such a feat. He told DAZN, "It was an incredible game, I am really happy, one of the best days of my life for sure. We did an amazing job with the ball, without the ball. We suffered in the last minutes, but I'm very proud of all of them."

Back-to-back UWCL winners #UWCLfinal || #UWCL pic.twitter.com/ChVI0W7OHL

— UEFA Women's Champions League (@UWCL) May 25, 2024

Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze, whose future with the club remains uncertain, shared her thoughts with DAZN: "We knew that that's what we needed, to be a club to make history. It's not easy; it's hard to win it once. To win it back-to-back, Lyon showed how difficult it is and this team has finally done that. We go down in history as one of the best teams in Europe."

Barcelona's two Ballon d'Or winners scored their goals, with Bonmati breaking the deadlock just after the hour mark before Putellas sealed the victory in stoppage time. Bronze praised Putellas, saying, "She's the captain of the team, she's the Queen of Barcelona for a reason. She's always so confident in the team and showed today why she is a back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner. She's got the quality to do that in the last minute of the Champions League final when we were up against it at the end and just sealed the win for us."

The victory not only highlights Barcelona's dominance in women's football but also sets a new benchmark for future teams aiming for similar success.