Barcelona storms semis
Barcelona battered Real Madrid to reach the Women’s Champions League semifinals and stretched their unbeaten run to 25 matches after that quarterfinal demolition. And on the men’s final stage: The Killers will headline the UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show by Pepsi® at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna on May 30 — their only European date in 2026. (aljazeera.com) (uefa.com) (espn.com)
Ewa Pajor netted twice and Esmee Brugts, Irene Paredes, Vicky López and Alexia Putellas (penalty) also scored for Barcelona in the first-leg 6-2 quarter-final at the Alfredo Di Stéfano; Linda Caicedo scored both of Real Madrid’s goals. (uefa.com) Barcelona controlled the match with roughly 71% possession and 15 shots to Real’s six, while reported attendance at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano was 4,203. (skysports.com) UEFA’s match report flagged Barcelona as “well placed” to reach an eighth consecutive Women’s Champions League semi-final and named Alexia Putellas Vodafone Player of the Match, with the second leg scheduled at the Camp Nou on April 2. (uefa.com) The result continued Barcelona’s dominance over Real Madrid — the win left their head-to-head record at 22 victories in 23 meetings — and came after the club finished runners-up in last season’s Champions League. (espn.com) UEFA confirmed The Killers will headline the Champions League Final Kick Off Show presented by Pepsi on May 30 at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna, with the pre-match performance to be broadcast worldwide via local partner broadcasters, UEFA.com and UEFA’s YouTube channel. (uefa.com) Pepsi and UC3 are presenting the show, Live Nation is producing the stadium-scale event, and the announcement was promoted with a short film featuring The Killers and Sir David Beckham as part of the campaign. (pepsico.com)
