Barcelona ripped
Arsenal apart in style to kickstart their
Champions League defence. Goals from Mariona Caldentey, Alexia Putellas – the newly crowned European player of the year, who received her trophy before kick-off – Asisat Oshoala and Lieke Martens earned the home team a comfortable win, with Frida Maanum scoring a consolation goal from a corner. The scoreline, terrifyingly, flattered the Gunners, who had six shots while their opponents had 35. Arsenal barely registered time on the ball.
![Barcelona pay homage to Cruyff by teaching Arsenal harsh WCL lesson](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5f98d93cca9b544cf5552b4442bb7fcea041e782/0_70_2091_1255/master/2091.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=712d8fc8953156bb7596f8c6609f2929)
“I’ve learned that we have a team that never gives up,” said the deflated Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall. “It was a really, really tough game. I can probably do things better in preparing the team to find those solutions even quicker than they did today.”