Growing character takes European champions Barca to next level

Barcelona displayed their mental growth as they conquered Europe for the second time with a stunning comeback victory over Wolfsburg in the women's Champions League final.

After suffering a defeat labelled "traumatic" by captain Alexia Putellas against Lyon in last season's final, Jonatan Giraldez's side seemed to be collapsing again in the season's showpiece event in Eindhoven.

However, Patri Guijarro's brace and Fridolina Rolfo's winner helped the Catalans triumph 3-2 at the PSV Stadium, with a remarkable second-half turnaround showing they have progressed to the next level.

Coach Giraldez said that kind of steely mentality was something which the team had been working on attaining this season.

"In football there are sometimes more important things, it's not enough just to play well," Giraldez told reporters.

"Today, character was key. They did not let themselves sink. They came out with a great attitude and that is important.

"We have worked on that through the season, that in the bad moments, you have to give the best version of yourself."

Defeat would have been a big setback, with the club determined to dominate women's football, reaching four of the last five finals.

Barcelona played their first Champions League final in 2019, when Lyon steamrollered them 4-1, netting four goals inside the first 30 minutes.

They won their second in 2021, inflicting the same misery on Chelsea -- hitting four by the 36th minute.

Last season it was their turn to collapse against Lyon, conceding three in the first 33 minutes, with Putellas pulling one back in a 3-1 defeat.

After Ewa Pajor and Alexandra Popp struck early on for Tommy Stroot's Wolfsburg, history seemed to be repeating itself once more.

Barcelona's mentality is different now than it was then, though, with the club taking steps forward each year in their bid to lead women's football in the 2020s, as record eight-time winners Lyon did in the 2010s.

Player of the match Guijarro said coming from two goals behind in a final is "so difficult", but praised the team's mental strength.

A superstition called the "theory of two" was shared by Barcelona fans in the lead up to the game, with the players also discussing it among themselves.