Barcelona’s latest journey through the women’s Clásico ended in an overwhelming 7-0 victory over Real Madrid, a night in which Claudia Pina rewrote the fixture’s record book. Yet the opening quarter-hour brought the sort of refereeing debate that follows the rivalry across Spain, after Barcelona were denied what appeared to be a strong penalty claim.
With around 15 minutes played, Arianna Caruso pulled at the shirt of Barcelona’s Schertenleib inside the Madrid area, preventing her from getting a shot away. The Barcelona player was knocked off balance and the incident was checked by VAR, but the referee ultimately decided against awarding a foul or penalty.
The decision quickly drew anger online. One response described it as far more than a routine spot-kick appeal, while another questioned the appointment of Yolanda Parga. Other comments mocked the relatively short history of the women’s Clásico and called for the footage to receive closer scrutiny.
Pina takes her place in Clásico history
Barcelona did not allow the disputed moment to interrupt their command of the match. Pina, 25, scored four times to become the first player ever to register four goals in a single edition of the women’s Spanish Clásico.
Her haul also took her to nine goals against Real Madrid. That leaves Pina second on the fixture’s all-time scoring list, behind Alexia Putellas and Ewa Pajor, who share the lead on 14 apiece.
The seven-goal margin was another landmark for Barcelona. Apart from the 9-1 win in 2019, played before CD Tacón formally became Real Madrid, Barcelona had never beaten their rivals by more than six goals. This time, Pina’s finishing drove a record-breaking result.
It was also Barcelona’s third consecutive clean sheet in the rivalry, following a 3-0 Liga F win at the Alfredo Di Stéfano and last season’s 6-0 victory at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
