Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg: Real Madrid vs Barcelona facts
Friday, March 20, 2026
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Real Madrid have home advantage against domestic rivals Barcelona in the first leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final.
Madrid's league phase campaign ended with them on 11 points in seventh position (W3 D2 L1); they subsequently defeated Paris FC 3-2 away and 2-0 at home in the knockout phase play-offs.
Barcelona gained direct passage to the quarter-finals after finishing top of the league phase standings with an unbeaten record of five wins and one draw.
Last match
Barcelona have already beaten Madrid three times this season, most recently 4-0 at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano in the Spanish Cup quarter-finals on 5 February, Ewa Pajor scoring twice with Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo also on target.
Barça had also won 4-0 at home in Liga F on 15 November, Pajor getting two of the goals and Sydney and Aitana Bonmatí also scoring, and 2-0 in the Spanish Super Cup final on 24 January thanks to a goal in each half from Esme Brugts and Putellas.
The pair also meet in Madrid in Liga F on 29 March.
Barcelona have won 21 of the teams' 22 meetings – the exception Madrid's 3-1 win in Barcelona on 23 March 2025 in which Caroline Weir scored twice and Alba Redondo once – scoring 77 goals to their opponents' ten. Putellas is the top scorer in the fixture with 12 goals, one more than Pajor.
The only previous Women's Champions League meetings between the teams, and Madrid's only encounters with a team from their own country, also came at the quarter-final stage, in 2021/22.
Barcelona won that tie 8-3 on aggregate, Putellas scoring twice and Clàudia Pina once in a 3-1 away first-leg success at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, the venue for this match. Both were also on target in a 5-2 home win in the Camp Nou return, Mapi León, Aitana Bonmatí and Caroline Graham Hansen also scoring for the then-holders.
Barcelona have one other European fixture against a Spanish team, a 1-0 victory against Atlético de Madrid in a one-off 2019/20 quarter-final staged in Bilbao.
Madrid reached the quarter-finals last season for the first time since their debut in 2021/22, losing to champions Arsenal (2-0 h, 0-3 a) after finishing second in a group containing Chelsea, Twente and Celtic.
The Spanish side made it through qualifying to reach the group stage in each of their last four entries, and followed suit for the inaugural league phase this season. Entering at the third qualifying round, the Spanish side progressed with a 5-1 aggregate triumph against Eintracht Frankfurt (2-1 a, 3-0 h).
Madrid have reached the knockout stage for the second season running and the third overall in their five European campaigns.
This is Barcelona's 14th Women's Champions League campaign – all in succession. Three-time winners, they have reached the final in six of the past seven editions as well as five in succession – a record they share with OL Lyonnes. Their successes came in the span of four seasons, beating Chelsea in 2021 (4-0), Wolfsburg in 2023 (3-2) and OL in 2024.
Barcelona have reached the quarter‑finals for the 11th consecutive season. They have won their last seven ties at this stage, where their overall aggregate record is W8 L3. They have not been eliminated in the quarter‑finals since losing 3-1 on aggregate to OL Lyonnes in 2017/18 (1-2 a, 0-1 h).
Runners-up to Arsenal in last season's final in Lisbon (0-1) in what was their 100th European game, Barca finished top of Group D on 15 points before navigating their way past Wolfsburg in the last eight (4-1 a, 6-1 h) and Chelsea in the semi-finals (4-1 h, 4-1 a).
Key stats
Madrid have lost only one of their ten Women's Champions League matches this season (W7 D2).
Las Blancas have won eight of their last ten home European games (D1 L1).
Madrid have scored in 19 of their last 20 matches in the competition.
Madrid have won the first leg in their last six Women's Champions League ties.
Barcelona have won 12 of their last 13 matches in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals (L1) and have been victorious in their last 18 two-legged ties in the competition, since that 2018 loss to OL Lyonnes.
Barca have won 14 of their last 16 games in the competition (D1 L1).
Marta Torrejón's next appearance will make her the first Spanish player to reach 90 in UEFA women's club competition.