Chelsea fall short in pursuit of Women's Champions League glory

FROM CAMP NOU - Emma Hayes knew it was always going to take something miraculous for Chelsea to topple Barcelona at a roaring Camp Nou and, despite best efforts, fell victim to what can only be described as the greatness of the Catalans.

Being such an underdog was not something Chelsea are particularly used to, especially facing off against a team who had recorded 79 consecutive wins at home. And despite the prospective return of Alexia Putellas, left to to wait another day, Barcelona’s sheer depth, control and dominance was too much for Chelsea to grapple with and they bowed out of the Champions League race.

Early on and almost like a repeat of the first leg, Caroline Graham Hansen broke down Chelsea’s back-line eight minutes in and had the ball in the back of the net. But a nervy handball from the Norwegian seconds earlier ruled the goal out.

A glaring mismatch between Magdalena Eriksson and the forementioned Graham Hansen became evident as the skipper struggled to keep up with the Barcelona winger’s pace as she sped down the right flank numerous times.

Anytime Barcelona began racing away, the 72,262 fans erupted. Having lost only once all season across all competitions, Camp Nou’s stage was set to seal a Champions League final spot again. Both sides tussled for the opener in what was Chelsea’s biggest game of the campaign so far.

Speaking ahead of the first leg, Hayes said that Chelsea were going to ‘suffer’ at the hands of the 2021 Champions League winners. With her side moving to a back five more regularly, it was clear Chelsea were beginning to struggle as the Barcelona forwards cut inside far too easily.

The small amount of possession Chelsea managed to obtain was quickly and consistently stripped away from them as they tied themselves up in knots trying to play out from the back. Through balls ending up in open space and couldn’t convert any chances into something plausible.

After a frustrating 63 minutes, the inevitable deadlock was broken in the blink of an eye as Chelsea’s attempt at going forward was rerouted, allowing Aitana Bonmati to race away, playing in Graham Hansen, the thorn in Chelsea’s side in both ties, to slot it past Ann-Katrin Berger.

The goal coming from Chelsea’s attempt at playing forward highlights major issues that the Blues have had during an injury crisis costing them key centre-backs Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan, as well as Fran Kirby, who still has a question mark over her return looming over her head.

The lingering issue at that point, how wound Chelsea respond? The answer was well.

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As scrappy as the game had become, a messy passage of play saw Erin Cuthbert snatch the ball from Mariona Caldentey in a challenge that was later checked over by VAR.

The ball was played through to Sam Kerr on the break as every Chelsea fan held their breath. Kerr was denied the equaliser but as the rebound fell to Guro Reiten, she sent it past Sandra Panos, keeping her team’s chances of reaching a second UWCL final in four years well within their clutches.

It must be said that Chelsea’s ability to go down to the wire to keep themselves in the tie is second to none. In full swing, Hayes turned to Lauren James and Pernille Harder to try and send the game to extra-time, throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the last minutes of the tie.

Unable to level the aggregate score, Chelsea once again fell short against the ruthless Barcelona, their fate ultimately being sealed by the first leg result.

“I’m just really proud of the players and disappointed with the result,” Hayes rued in her post-match comments. “Look at the previous results here, I don’t think you understand how challenging it is playing in this stadium with an unbeaten record in the last four years.

“Had they got a goal early on they would have given us a difficult evening. I can’t criticise our performance tonight. We’re going out in the competition because of the home leg. Today I think the better team lost.”

Barcelona could have easily been out of sight if they had been a little more incisive in the box but it is to Chelsea’s credit that they held the side Barcelona that hammered them 4-0 in the 2021 final to just a 2-1 aggregate win that takes them to Eindhoven on 3 June.