Bonmatí and Putellas fire Barcelona to Champions League

Bilbao is used to being decorated in stripes, the flags of their beloved Athletic Club hang from every other window, but on Saturday the city found itself swamped in less familiar colours, Barcelona’s red and blue filling every bar and populating every square as travelling fans celebrated beating Lyon in a Champions League final at the third time of asking.

It was their talismanic duo, playmaker Aitana Bonmatí and superstar Alexia Putellas, who delivered in front of 50,827 fans. Bonmatí’s effort taking a deflection off Vanessa Gilles to take it past Christiane Endler shortly after the hour mark, before Putellas added the second a minute after coming on deep into injury time. It was deserved, the French champions were unable to handle the guile of the world’s best passers of the ball.