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Soccer

Barcelona's Sandra Panos: 'It's evident that women's football is interesting'

Barcelona's Sandra Panos: 'It's evident that women's football is interesting'DAZN
Barcelona take on Real Madrid in front of a sold out Camp Nou on Wednesday night in the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Wednesday night will be a huge occasion for both the UEFA Women's Champions League and women's football.

Barcelona take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarter-final tie in front of a sold-out Camp Nou which is being broadcast live on DAZN's YouTube channel

The defending champions lead Madrid 3-1 on aggregate after coming back from 1-0 down in the Spanish capital last week and for Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Panos, the huge attendance is a clear sign that women's football is on the rise. 

"I think it’s evident that women’s football is interesting," Panos told DAZN's The Match Up when asked about criticisms surrounding women's football. 

"I mentioned what happened at Camp Nou which even surprised us, that it practically sold out in two days.

"It also happened before at the Wanda with 70,000 people."

Panos also had plenty of praise for the fans who turn out to watch the games and as a result grow the sport. 

"So I believe that if they organise things better, people really do make an effort to watch women’s football.

"I believe that women’s football represents the fact that everyone wants to join in on this sport because it calls people’s attention.

"They realise that it’s not just for women, it’s football, and they truly see it that way on TV, at the stadiums, and we’re really proud that people are supporting us because our fight to continue growing as well as the recognition we receive will help this develop even more."

The Barcelona shot stopper also had a special announcement to make: she revealed that she is joining hundreds of other footballers around the world as the newest member of pledge-based social impact football movement Common Goal.

With DAZN and adidas as its two global partners and impact sponsors, Common Goal believes in football as a force for positive change and aims to drive long-term, solution-oriented change around critical issues at the intersection of sport and society.

As a result of joining the movement, Panos will be donating 1% of her salary to the charity she most identifies with. 

"I think us women and men’s footballers are ultimately in a very privileged position because thanks to what we do and work towards, we can make a lot of people happy," Panos said.

"Few things truly create the joy that football does."

She also believes that players in both the women's and men's game can help achieve one of Common Goal's objectives, achieve gender equality in football. 

"Well I believe that’s the key, to see men and women working in the same direction for one sport, football.

"As you say, football has no gender.

"I mean it’s true that it’s taking a bit for women’s sports to develop.

"We’re on our way, but I believe that being supported by men helps us to develop even further.

"And this is the way to go to break down these barriers because football is football, it has no gender."

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