The UEFA Women’s Champions League starts today (Tuesday, Oct. 8th), and current champions Barcelona will have a difficult test against Manchester City in their debut on Wednesday. Speaking about the start of the season, Ballon d’Or nominee Caroline Graham Hansen has taken a dig at Cules’ eternal rivals Real Madrid.
While appearing in the program ‘Tu diràs’, Hansen mentioned who are the biggest rivals for the Cules in this edition of the Champions League. “Who do you think is the rival, Olympique Lyon?” they asked. The winger agreed that the French side “will always be there because it’s the competition they like to compete in” and “they are the team that has won the most titles in the history of the Champions League.”
She also mentioned some English teams, saying that the competition is “a challenge for them,” and adding that there’s always “a surprise team that will do well.” After that, they asked if Madrid was one of them. To which Graham replied: “I don’t think so, but we’ll see.”
However, Graham further explained that “this year they have a good team, and I could be wrong—they might do really well. But we’ll see.” The Norwegian went on to compliment the start of season of Real Madrid:
Fridolina Rolfo of Barcelona Women during the team’s training session ahead of the 2024/25 Champions League debut (Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
“It’s true that they have changed a lot of players before this season, and they have a lot of quality in the squad. They started the league as well as we did. They have 15 points, just like Atlético Madrid. So, for now, when you look at it, the standings are the same, and that’s why we have a lot of respect,” she concluded.
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Real Madrid are fighting in Liga F
With Barcelona being one of the strongest teams in the world, Real Madrid, formally part of the club since 2020, has struggled to contest the powerful Cules. However, this year, the team has new talented players such as Melanie Leupolz, Mäelle Lakrar, and María Méndez, who have joined other stars such as Colombian Linda Caicedo, Olga Carmona and more.
: Melanie Leupolz of Real Madrid shoots under pressure from Andreia Filipa Ramires Bravo of Sporting CP (Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
“We’re going to keep competing, we’re going to keep winning every game we can because that’s the only way to win the league. Madrid has a good team this year, and they’ve started well. They’re a rival that, in the end, you have to respect for the club they are and the goals they aim to achieve there,” said Graham about Madrid.
In their most recent three matches, Barcelona have won comfortably with thrashings. However, they will face each other on the weekends of November 17 and March 23, and maybe the new Madrid could clinch a win.
Barcelona are going for the three-peat
On the other hand, Barcelona are motivated to keep making history, this time going for the three-peat in the Champions League after winning in 2023 and 2024 —they also won in 2021—. The team would be two titles away from the Olympique Lyon record of five consecutive trophies, from 2016 to 2020.
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“We’ve been in many finals, we’ve won three Champions Leagues. The mentality remains the same as the first day I arrived here. The work we have to put in every day to have a chance of getting there, otherwise, it’s impossible. When you have the humility to work hard, to keep fighting for everything, you have a chance. But with humility, because we know it’s going to be tough,” Graham said about their chances.
