Barcelona Women 0-1 Chelsea Women
Chelsea Women pulled off a remarkable feat last weekend, beating Barcelona at home in their Champions League semi-final first leg. No team had achieved that since February 2019!
But manager Emma Hayes knows the wounded Spanish side will hurl everything but the kitchen sink at the Blues in the second leg at Stamford Bridge this Saturday.
A single lofted goal from inspirational captain Erin Cuthbert was enough to give Chelsea a slender advantage at the old Olympic stadium. But it was the way the visitors weathered the inevitable storm and managed the game that left Hayes beaming like a child on Christmas morning.
"Barcelona will throw everything at us," she warned as she contemplated the prospect of a full house at the Bridge.
"Today, we took our chance, and our team did a lot to limit chances as a whole. You can only do that together, and not individually."
While every Chelsea player deserved applause at the end of the tense first leg, special credit went to Jess Carter, whose heroics in defence inspired her colleagues.
The Blues' tactics were to absorb the inevitable waves of attack that came pouring at them from Barcelona, before striking back on the break. Initially Hayes used five defenders to repel the onslaught.
As Barca's frustration grew, Chelsea's confidence grew too. By the time Cuthbert had lifted and curled her shot in after 40 minutes, the home side hadn't troubled keeper Hannah Hampton with a single shot on target.
Chelsea rode their luck in the second half, with Salma Paralleulo poised to take a penalty after the ball struck Kadeisha Buchanan's arm. However, VAR intervened at the last moment and ruled that there had been an offside just before.
With a week to go before the second leg in SW6, 25,000 tickets had already been sold. The hope this week is to bump that up to more than 30,000 to guarantee a cauldron of sound when the players take to the pitch this Saturday (27 April).
Kick-off is at 5.30pm. Check here for any late remaining tickets to what promises to be the hottest match of Chelsea Women's season.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
