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Chelsea vs Barcelona LIVE: Women’s Champions League semi-final result and reaction after Bonmati and Rolfo goals
Emma Hayes’s side fell short against the champions in front of the biggest-ever crowd for a women’s game at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea’s hopes of winning a first Women’s Champions League title were ended as Barcelona overturned a first-leg deficit to win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and progress to the final.
Fridolina Rolfo fired home from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to play to complete the defending champions’ fightback and seal a 2-1 aggregate victory, after Emma Hayes’ side had been made to endure the final half-hour with 10 players following the sending-off of Kadeisha Buchanan.
Barca had already levelled the tie via a deflected finish from Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati by the time the Chelsea defender saw red. Reaching for a loose ball inside the centre circle, she landed a foot on the ankle of Patri Guijarro and referee Iuliana Demetrescu did not hesitate in showing a second yellow card.
In Hayes’ final season in charge at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea battled gamely to give their outgoing manager the chance to depart on a high in next month’s final in Bilbao.
But despite Barca being camped in their own half, time ran out on the home side who bowed out in the last four for the second season running.
Relive all the action and follow the reaction from Chelsea vs Barcelona below, while you can watch the Women’s Champions League Semi-Finals for free on DAZN
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Chelsea captain Millie Bright has described today’s Champions League second leg against Barcelona as “the biggest game we’re probably going to play in our careers”.
Bright has been sidelined since November with a knee injury but returned to the bench for last week’s first leg in Barcelona.
She told the BBC: “We know it's a fantastic opponent, we know the storm that's about to come and we have a lot of respect for them.
"It's still half-time. It was a fantastic result and performance from the girls [last week] but equally, we know that Barca were probably not at their best.
"They will absolutely ramp it up. We have to make sure we're on our A-game otherwise that result means nothing if we don't get the job done on Saturday.
"We are in a great position and we know it's about staying switched on. It's a team that we can't afford to slip up against or take our foot off the gas because they will punish you."
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Barcelona beat Chelsea 1-0 in last year’s semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge, as Caroline Graham Hansen’s goal gave the Spanish side the advantage.
Before last week’s first leg, Graham Hansen had scored in every game she had played against Chelsea, but was kept quiet by Niamh Charles and a superb Chelsea display.
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Barcelona and England midfielder Keira Walsh insisted the Champions League holders have full belief that they can came from 1-0 down to reach the final at Stamford Bridge.
She told Uefa: “It's definitely not beyond us. We had chances at the end [of the first leg] and we can take a positive from that. Everybody fights for the badge; that's what we'll do at Stamford Bridge. This is such a special team and I have full faith that we can do it."
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Emma Hayes warned that Barcelona “have another level in them” after Chelsea pulled off a stunning victory in last week’s first leg.
“It’s just half-time. Nobody should get carried away with that and to be honest, I’m disappointed we didn’t get the second goal,” she told DAZN.
“It’s a difficult place to come and they carried out the game plan I asked them to do – so from that perspective, I’m happy.
“I think I know how to come away from home and get a result. We have under-performed against Barcelona at home.
“Barcelona have another level in them and I think that’s clear. Maybe they don’t feel they were at their best today and we have to anticipate that.”
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Chelsea will have to do more than just defend as Barcelona look to keep their Champions League defence alive. Barcelona have vowed to bring “another level” into the second leg and as they seek the comeback, or the “remontada”.
It would be an extraordinary effort from Chelsea to shut-out the star-studded cast of Bonmati, Caroline Graham Hansen, Fridolina Rolfo, Salma Paralluelo and Alexia Putellas for a second game in a row. “Barcelona are gonna come for us, world class players won’t accept defeat,” Hayes warned last week, moments after full-time.
Chelsea have been preparing for this and, for them, it’s personal too. That final in Gothenburg, three years ago, denied Chelsea and Hayes a first Champions League, destroyed by Barcelona in a first-half onslaught.
This is the closest they’ve been to the Champions League final since and, ultimately, a first-ever victory over Barcelona would count for nothing if they don’t complete the job and reach the final as well. The quadruple is long gone but the Champions League dream is still alive. For Chelsea and Hayes, this would be their greatest victory of all.
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Chelsea were brilliant last week, becoming the first team to beat Barcelona away from home in five years. A defensive masterclass stifled the holders, limiting the Spanish side to few chances, while an aggressive and intense approach disrupted the European champions and their midfield passing. Barcelona and their superstars were evidently rattled, with the Ballon d’Or holder Aitana Bonmati accusing Chelsea of “playing dirty” and causing “interruptions” in the game. Bonmati claimed Barcelona had warned the referee that Chelsea would look to slow play down, and yet they succeeded.
Such a reaction would have been music to Chelsea’s ears, evidence beyond the monumental scoreline that their approach had been a successful one. Hayes was quick to point out that the tie was only at half-time and insisted Chelsea could have had more. There was pride in celebrating Chelsea’s win at Barcelona, but Hayes was rather more regretful that Mayra Ramirez had not doubled Chelsea’s lead on the counter-attack after the hosts pushed further numbers forward in search of an equaliser.
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
And so to the arrival of Barcelona for the second time in as many seasons. Chelsea are prepared for a response after Barcelona were stunned, humbled and suffered their first defeat of the season in the first leg last week. Hayes’s side executed their defensive gameplan to perfection and Erin Cuthbert’s goal secured a famous win at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
There is a score to settle: Barcelona have vowed to raise their game and there is revenge to claim, yet the European champions will be up against more than an organised defence and a disciplined unit, given the emotion of Hayes’s final weeks in charge.
The chance to finally win the Champions League heightens the narrative, in a clash that should have much more tension and edginess than last season’s semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge. Then, the occasion was not a contest and Chelsea’s passiveness as much as Barcelona’s dominance meant the fixture struggled to live up to its billing.
That Barcelona’s return comes in the second leg - and with Chelsea having a lead to defend - demands a hostile atmosphere to fuel the evening and help Hayes’s side over the line. Last season’s late comeback and quarter-final victory over holders Lyon can be their inspiration.
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Chelsea can claim crowning Women’s Champions League victory in the house that Emma Hayes built
It was all in the plan, it seemed. As Chelsea took to Stamford Bridge for the first time under Emma Hayes, the club’s then-chairman Bruce Buck declared that, in one sense, the “mission has been accomplished”. There were under 4,000 in attendance as Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Wolfsburg, but the the historic occasion of Chelsea’s women’s team playing at Stamford Bridge was the encapsulation of Hayes’s vision. “Emma explained what she wanted to build here,” Buck wrote in the match programme seven years ago. “But I know Emma will not want the journey to end here.” Nor did it.
But now there is an end, of sorts, as Chelsea return to the house that Hayes built for the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. Hayes’s last match at Stamford Bridge could not have been scripted better: with a slender 1-0 lead to protect against the best team in the world, the opportunity to knock out the holders and reach the Bilbao final, and the biggest ever attendance for a women’s game at Stamford Bridge. The pursuit of a first Champions League title and the dream end to Hayes’s final season at Chelsea has led to the chance of a first sell-out in the club’s history.
Chelsea can claim crowning victory in the house that Hayes built
Barcelona have a score to settle but Stamford Bridge will be ready as Chelsea look to reach the Women’s Champions League final in Hayes’s final season
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
Last time out
As the ball fell to Alexia Putellas, four yards out and in the ninth minute of additional time at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, there was already enough evidence to show that this was a day for the unexpected. In any other game, Putellas would have scored and Barcelona would have found a way through – instead, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner skewed her shot and the Women’s Champions League holders suffered their first home defeat in five years. Even more remarkably, as Putellas sliced wide, a team who had scored 164 goals in all competitions this season were yet to land a shot on target.
Nor would they. Somehow, Chelsea and Emma Hayes produced the unthinkable. The English champions looked to survive and stay in the tie, but Erin Cuthbert’s goal and a first-ever victory against the all-conquering Barcelona ensures Chelsea will take a 1-0 lead back to Stamford Bridge for next week’s semi-final second leg. Avoid defeat there, and Hayes will end her 12-year Chelsea reign in Bilbao and with a final shot at the only trophy that has eluded her.
Chelsea produce the unthinkable as Hayes writes famous chapter into farewell story
Barcelona 0-1 Chelsea: Erin Cuthbert’s goal gives the English side the advantage in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals as they stunned the holders away from home
Chelsea vs Barcelona: Latest build-up
What is the team news?
Chelsea captain Millie Bright is back in the squad after returning from a knee injury, but it would be a surprise to see her start. Chelsea are without long-term absentees Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel, but Maren Mjelde and Nathalie Bjon are likely to be involved.
Barcelona are without Mapi Leon while Lucy Bronze and Alexia Putellas started the first leg on the bench but could come into the line-up.
Predicted line-ups
Chelsea: Hampton; Lawrence, Carter, Buchanan, Charles; Cuthbert, Leupolz; Rytting Kaneryd, Nusken, James; Ramirez
Barcelona: Cata Coll; Bronze, Paredes, Engen, Rolfo; Bonmati, Walsh, Patri; Graham Hansen, Paralluelo, Caldentey
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