Athletic Club - FC Barcelona

An experience for the future, a lesson in resilience. Athletic Club were beaten 0-3 by FC Barcelona at San Mamés in the first leg of their Copa semi-final tie.

However, the Lionesses can take pride in having stood up to Barcelona side that went 0-2 up in the first 16 minutes through two spectacular Aitana Bonmati goals.

The Catalans did not score the third and definitive goal until the 78th minute, when Salma Paralluelo, another world champion, took advantage of a mistake to score past Adriana Nanclares.

Athletic, with 23,490 spectators in the stands, struggled to retain possession against Barça. Jonatan Giráldez's players punished the Lionesses early on with their first two shots at goal.

Their reigning Golden Ball winner, Aitana Bonmatí, scored with two tight shots, each with one leg, in the 13th and 16th minutes. There were fears that the visitors would completely overrun Athletic, but the Zurigorri weathered the storm well.

Despite rarely troubling the Catalans, an Ane Azkona effort aside, the Lionesses were barely threatened again until half-time -a great Nanclares save to keep out  Pina and little else. 

It was more of the same after the break. Athletic were pinned back into their own half. Nanclares kept out Paralluelo first attempt. But the Barça forward, pouncing on a defensive mistake, couldn't be stopped on the second ocassion.

At 0-3, Las Rojiblancas saw more ball in the opponents' half, but finding a way through the Azulgrana defence, which has conceded only nine goals all season, was an impossible task.

San Mamés recognised Lionesses' efforts with a standing ovation. This is a great learning experience for our youngsters. There is still the second leg to come, and one more step in the team's progression. Let's keep going, Lionesses.