Gallery: 91,553 fans at the Clasico – a historic night for women’s football

A world record crowd watched the Women’s Champions League clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid

By Mike Starling
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(Image credit: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A world record was shattered on Wednesday night after 91,553 fans packed into the Camp Nou to watch the Uefa Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg clash between Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid. The attendance is the highest ever for a women’s football match, surpassing the previous record of 90,185 who watched the 1999 Fifa Women’s World Cup final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

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(Image credit: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

It was a “day of celebration” for Barcelona fans and for women’s football fans in general, said Spanish newspaper Marca. When the Blaugrana arrived at the stadium thousands of people, “including a considerable number of women and children”, waved their flags and scarves. The Barça supporters encouraged their players with chants and created a “real atmosphere”. Real Madrid were greeted with “deafening whistles”.

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(Image credit: Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Defending champions Barça took a 3-1 aggregate lead into the second leg of the quarter-final. And at the Camp Nou they produced a “sensational Clasico display” to thrash Real 5-2 on the night to reach the semi-finals, the BBC reported. After their 8-3 aggregate victory over Real, Barça will now face Arsenal or Wolfsburg in the last four.

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(Image credit: Alex Caparros/Uefa via Getty Images)

This was an “extraordinary, historic occasion”, said Sid Lowe in The Guardian. “They haven’t had a night quite like this here for a long time, maybe ever” and when the full-time whistle went “no one wanted to go home”. The lap of honour “had been long; the night would be even longer. Noisy, too”.

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(Image credit: Alex Caparros/Uefa via Getty Images)

Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas was left “speechless” after playing in front of the record 91,553 crowd. “This has been utterly magical,” the Ballon d’Or winner said. “When the match finished the fans simply didn’t want to go home, there was such a connection between them and us while we celebrated. I saw a lot of girls, children with that spark in their eyes. It’s amazing to be part of history.”

Mike Starling

Mike Starling is the digital features editor at The Week, where he writes content and edits the Arts & Life and Sport website sections and the Food & Drink and Travel newsletters. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon. 

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