Asisat Oshoala: What the African Queen of Soccer Brings to Barca Femeni, Something So Unique, Something So Different

 

The Best Barca Team Ever!

Barca Femeni are looking to win a second Champions League title in three years, which would see them match the feat of Pep Guardiola's incredible side.

Despite missing two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas for most of it, this season has been another insane one for the Catalans’ women’s team. But for defeat on the final weekend to Madrid CFF, it would have been another invincible season.

Still, their record in Liga F this term remains sensational - with 28 wins out of 30 games and 118 goals scored along the way, with just 10 conceded. It’s form that has continued in Europe too, where they’ve also only failed to win twice. One more victory is all they need now to cap it off in style.

The last time Barca won two European titles in three years, Messi was the star, though he had a sensational supporting cast, too. Be it the dreamy midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta or the attackers either side of the Argentine, Pedro and David Villa, the team that beat Manchester United in the 2011 final is a memorable one.

Among Barca sensational Femeni team, touted to be probably the best Barcelona team ever is this special player.

African Queen of Soccer:

Africa's four times, and the reigning women player of the year, Assisat Oshoala has been described as "a very special player" for one of the biggest women club side in the world. She may not be that typical Barcelona's traditional tiki-taka player, but she brings a different fervour that is so special to the team's success as a whole.

With five goals and three assists in Europe this season, only two players have been involved in more goals than Asisat Oshoala this season in the biggest club competition in the game.

The Nigeria international isn’t a tiki-taka player like Leon or Bonmati but, just like Graham Hansen, she offers a change of pace and something different to the attack, something that she acknowledges herself as a big reason why she is an asset for the champions of Spain.

When Barcelona's women's team walk out at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven on June 3, they'll be making a fourth appearance in a Champions League final in just five years. It’s a rate that the men’s team couldn’t even produce during the golden era between 2006 and 2015, when they were European champions four times.

“To be honest, I think my style of football is quite different from the team's style of football,” she told our correspondence. “It's not the same but at the end of the day, when you get to a certain place or when you play certain teams, you have got to change the way you play if you want to win.

“I think I'm here because, sure, I'm a good finisher and [because of] my movement in the box, I make sure I time that well. For me, I can maybe add the finishing and the speed part or whatever might not be what is the normal style of the team, but in some games, these things are needed and I give it to the team.”