Caitlin Hayes: 'Barcelona was an unbelievable experience despite the result'

Albion lost 3-1 to the European champions in Friday's pre-season friendly, but will be better for the experience according to their Irish defender.

Heather Miller

2026-08-22T01:00+01:00

Caitlin Hayes says Albion will have learned a lot from playing one of the best teams in the world. 📷Paul Hazlewood

Defender Caitlin Hayes says Friday’s pre-season friendly against Champions League winners Barcelona was ‘an unbelievable demonstration of what women’s football can be.’

Kiko Seike drew Albion level before Barca ran out 3-1 winners. Nonetheless it was a great experience for Hayes and her teammates to test themselves against one of the best sides in the world.

"These are the teams you want to play against. It's the test that you want, especially going into the new season,” she said.

"It's an unbelievable demonstration of what women's football can be: the setup, the stadium, the fans, everything from start to finish was handled with the utmost professionalism.

"It's a stage that represents where women's football can go, and a personal test to put yourselves up against some of the best players in the world. It was an unbelievable experience despite the result.

"The point is to get back up and come back stronger, and I think we did that throughout the game.

"At the beginning, we were playing the occasion rather than the game, but we definitely grew into it and came out stronger towards the end."

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Kiko Seike opened the scoring at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, but Barcelona took their chances and scored three. Albion created chances of their own, but were repeatedly denied in a competitively battled encounter. Club photographer Paul Hazlewood was in Spain to capture all the action.

With two friendlies completed in Holland and Spain, the defender highlighted what the squad can take away from their pre-season camp, which included a 3-0 win over Genk on Tuesday.

She added, "We've definitely built a togetherness and a camaraderie - a 'all for one and one for all' thing.

"Whether that be in ping pong, riding bikes through the Netherlands, or drinking coffee in Barcelona, it's been great to spend time together, to understand each other first as people, and then on the pitch. I think that was demonstrated on Friday despite the result."

Meanwhile head coach Dario Vidosic thanked the Albion fans who travelled to Spain to cheer on their team.

"It's huge. We're very thankful to our fans who travelled to support us for a pre-season friendly game," he said.

"We need them all now to get ready in two weeks' time as we prepare to attack the WSL."