Barcelona vs Chelsea LIVE: Women’s Champions League result and reaction after the Blues’ historic win
Barcelona 0-1 Chelsea: Erin Cuthbert’s goal secured a famous win as the Champions League holders lost at home for the first time in five years
Chelsea stunned Women’s Champions League holders Barcelona by becoming the first team to beat them away from home in more than five years as Emma Hayes’s side claimed a 1-0 win to take back to Stamford Bridge for next week’s semi-final second leg.
Erin Cuthbert scored the only goal of the game as an immense defensive performance ensured Barcelona failed to score in a game for the first time in two years. Alexia Putellas missed a golden chance in the final seconds as Chelsea held on, but Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton did not have a shot to save.
Chelsea’s first ever win over Barcelona, who have won the Champions League in two out of the last three seasons, means the English champions will go through to the Bilbao final if they avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
Watch the Women’s Champions League Semi-Finals for free on DAZN and get the latest match odds and tips here. Follow all the action below
Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea
1 min: Barcelona have already got into the Chelsea box a couple of times. The ball comes in from the left and almost falls to Graham Hansen, but she slips before she can get to it.
KICK-OFF! Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea
KICK-OFF! The home side get us underway in Barcelona.
Barcelona vs Chelsea LIVE
The teams are in the tunnel now as the Barcelona anthem plays on the tannoy at the Lluis Companys stadium.
Kick-off is imminent!
James starts despite pre-match doubts
Perhaps the biggest news in the immediate build-up to the game is that forward Lauren James will indeed start for Chelsea.
Emma Hayes previously confirmed that James missed Wednesday’s win over Aston Villa due to injury, but refused to comment on the extent or severity of the injury situation.
Well, perhaps it was all mind games, as the England international – who is central to Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Champions League in Hayes’ last season with the club – starts.
Barcelona vs Chelsea: Emma Hayes on Women’s Champions League semi-final
Emma Hayes on facing Barcelona again: “I look forward to every game. Of course everybody wants to be in the Champions League semi-final but we don’t have much time to think too hard about it.
“We had to try to win in the league first [on Wednesday] and our brains can now switch to the Champions League so it’s rest first, then we think about Friday and what we need to deliver in training. Then we go and play the first half. That’s all it is, the first half.”
Where does Barcelona’s threat come from?
Chelsea will know how Barcelona’s threats will come from all angles. The elusive dribbling and finishing of Graham Hansen when gliding off the right wing punished Chelsea in last season’s semi-finals. Mariona Caldentey’s ability to drift inside from the opposite side offers Barcelona an advantage in central areas, and allows Rolfo, a winger for Sweden, to play in the same position but from full-back. The departures of Jenni Hermoso and Asisat Oshoala means Salma Paralluelo, the best young player at the World Cup, has been afforded chances to lead the line. Paralluelo really made her breakthrough in her debut Champions League campaign last year but a 30-goal return this season resembles a further leap from the 20-year-old forward.
Naturally, Barcelona’s midfield remains the heart of a side that is defined by its technical excellence. Bonmati, the clear best player in the world over the past year, will threaten to undo Chelsea by exploiting the narrowest of gaps and the tightest of spaces on the edge of the box. Parti Guijarro, one of the Spanish players who made themselves unavailable from Spain’s World Cup squad, is the leader who dragged Barcelona from behind in last season’s final against Wolfsburg. Walsh, no stranger to England opposition, sets the tempo. Chelsea may look to focus on Bonmati, or Walsh, or Graham Hansen, only to leave room elsewhere.
‘Nothing has changed’ and Spain’s female footballers still have ‘same problems’, says Aitana Bonmati
Barcelona star Aitana Bonmati insisted things “have not changed” for women’s footballers in Spain, despite the public attention on issues in the aftermath of Spain’s 2023 Women’s World Cup victory.
Jenni Hormoso, who was kissed on the lips by Luis Rubiales at the final in Sydney, and has since filed a legal complaint against the former Spanish football federation president. She then went on to lead the fight against sexism in football in the country, and led to the departure of former head coach Jorge Vilda.
Bonmati revealed to BBC Sport, that in addition to the well-documented problems at national level, the same issues extend into the domestic set up.
‘Nothing has changed’ for Spain women’s footballers says Aitana Bonmati
Aitana Bonmati says women’s footballers in Spain still have the ‘same problems’ they did before the World Cup
Barcelona vs Chelsea betting tips: Women's Champions League predictions, odds and free bets
Chelsea face a familiar foe in Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash on Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm, TNT Sports 2).
The Blues are bidding to send manager Emma Hayes off on the highest of notes and reaching their second Champions League final would put them on course to do just that.
Chelsea brushed aside Ajax in the quarter-finals with a comfortable victory, doing the damage in the first leg with a 3-0 win before playing out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
However, Hayes’ side now come up against a Barcelona team that’s ruined their European dreams in the past.
Barcelona vs Chelsea betting tips: Women's Champions League predictions, odds and free bets
Barcelona and Chelsea lock horns in the Women's Champions League semi-finals on Saturday lunchtime
Why Barcelona remains the final frontier for Chelsea and Emma Hayes in the Women’s Champions League
It is around this time of the season when Emma Hayes starts to tell her Chelsea players they need to be prepared to “suffer” in the Women’s Champions League. Hayes will have a simple message as her side visit the holders and face the all-conquering Barcelona for the third time in four seasons: Chelsea can’t win this semi-final tie in the first leg, but they can lose it. Getting back to Stamford Bridge for the return leg next week with their hopes of progressing to the Bilbao final still alive will be the priority.
For one final time, Hayes and Chelsea have switched into a siege mentality as they travel to the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The Champions League is the one trophy that has eluded Hayes during her 12-year reign at Chelsea and this is their final chance. The prospect of Hayes crowning an era of domestic dominance by adding a first continental title, departing into the sunset as European champions, is the fairytale ending but the past few weeks have shown that reality can be rather less forgiving.
Why Barcelona remains the final frontier for Chelsea and Emma Hayes
The Champions League is the one trophy that has eluded Hayes during her 12-year reign at Chelsea and this is their final chance
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments