UEFA Futsal Champions League final preview: Barça vs Palma

Four-time UEFA Futsal Champions League winners Barça meet holders Mallorca Palma Futsal on Sunday in an all-Spanish final in Yerevan.

The lowdown

For only the second time in the 23 editions, one nation supplies both finalists. Both Spanish contenders won thrilling semi-finals on Friday against Portuguese opponents. Holders Palma made a dramatic late comeback to hold Benfica 4-4 then pip them on penalties while four-time winners Barça beat Sporting CP 5-4 in a game where no side ever led by more than one goal.

Having have hit their peak at just the right time in a previously injury-ravaged season, Barça can become only the second club to be five-time European champions, matching compatriots Inter FS. They top the Spanish regular season table, with Palma only just inside the top eight who will take part in the play-offs. Palma beat Barça 5-4 in September but in two March meetings, the Blaugrana won 1-0 in the league and on penalties in the Spanish Cup semi-finals on their way to victory in Cartagena.

However, Palma showed their fighting spirit on Friday and in the league have outscored Barça 106 to 102. They will welcome Bruno Gomes back from suspension, but will be without Ernesto due to his semi-final red card.

Views from the camps

Jesus Velasco, Barça coach: "Palma and Sporting are different teams. They both have their strengths and they are very difficult to play against. When it comes to Palma, they vary things a lot in goal and that always raises some doubts. We don't really know what we're going to face. They will try to surprise us and we will do the same to them.

"We have to adapt to whatever we will face during the game. These games are always defined in very concrete situations. Whoever has the ability to take advantage of the chances created during the match will win.”

Antonio Vadillo and Jesús VelascoUEFA via Sportsfile

Antonio Vadillo, Palma coach: "Let's see if we feel the physical effort we had to put in against Benfica in the semi-finals. The best possible way to recovery is the state of mind we feel at the moment. I think we are doing well. We are going to face a very difficult opponent who we know very well. I think we won't have any physical problems and you’re never tired when you play a final.

"Winning the Champions League is very difficult, but imagine winning two in a row. Only two teams have achieved that and we will do our best to make history."

Sergio Lozano, Barça captain: "Above all, it's a pleasure to be here. We are up against the current champions and it will be a game between the last two champions. It's going to be a battle.

"Palma are a tough team that play very well and they have two great goalkeepers. They changed a lot of players since last season but they still managed to get to the final, for which they deserve a lot of credit. We deserve to be in this final because we experienced a lot of injury problems throughout the season and we never stopped believing."

Carlos Barrón, Palma captain: “Lozano is more of a friend than a rival and fellow futsal player. He overcame many injuries and is here once again, which says a lot about his strength. He deserves to experience this occasion because he is a great player and he is showing that once again.

"I've been in a lot of penalty shoot-outs [as a goalkeeper] and lost some of them. We are prepared if the final goes to penalties but of course we want to avoid that and win. We played really well against Benfica and we showed our courage and quality but now we need more of the same against a tough opponent like Barça.”

Key stats

• Barça, in their seventh final, are aiming to equal Inter FS's record of five titles, having previously won in 2012, 2014, 2020 and 2022.
• Sergio Lozano played in all four of those triumphs and aims to be the first player to win five titles. It will be his sixth final: one off João Matos's record (all for Sporting CP).
• Palma hope to become only the second club to win the title in their first two campaigns after Playas de Castellón, winners in the inaugural seasons of 2001/02 and 2002/03.
• The only other club to successfully defend the trophy were Inter, who won their fourth and fifth titles in 2016/17 and 2017/18, under current Barça coach Jesús Velasco.
• Velasco will become the first head coach to have been involved in 80 UEFA futsal club matches. He already has the record of three titles, winning with Inter in 2017 and 2018 and Barça in 2022 (all those finals against Sporting, who they beat in the semis on Friday).
• Barça won the only previous one-nation final, beating Murcia FS 2-1 in Barcelona in 2020. That was also the only previous final four to involve teams from just two nations.
• Palma have not lost any of their 15 Champions League matches since debut last season.
• Palma's Mario Rivillos (who got the winning penalty in the 2023 finals shoot-out) scored twice when Velasco's Inter beat Sporting 7-0 in the 2017 final. He was also in Barça's 2019/20 winning squad but left before the finals, which were delayed to October due to COVID.
• Whatever happens, a Spanish club will win for the 13th time in the 23 editions.
• Palma's Rômulo, once of Barça, previously lost three finals with FC Dynamo in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the first and third of them against the Blaugrana.
• Palma's Rômulo played for Barça in 2016/17 and team-mate Rivillos represented the club from 2017 to 2020
• Barça's Catela played for Palma in 2018/19 and 2019/20