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19 min: Erin Cuthbert has been an engine in the middle of the park so far. The midfielder is closing the Barcelona players down and distributing the ball expertly. That’s why Bompastor calls her an “aggressivity booster.”
16 min: Maybe some nerves from Chelsea in the opening period. Lucy Bronze plays a sloppy back pass to Hannah Hampton and the ball goes out of play for a Barcelona corner.
14 min: It’s been an intense start to the game. Chelsea are pressing high but Barcelona are more than capable of playing out from the back and stretching the Chelsea back line.
10 min: Great skill from Nüsken on the touchline. She rolls the ball through the legs of Ona Batlle and sets Sandy Baltimore away with a deft trivela pass. The French left-back, who is playing as a left-winger today, rushes her pass to Ramírez and it comes to nothing.
7 min: Mayra Ramírez failed to make much of an impact in the first leg. The Colombian will need to be on top form today to provide Chelsea with a focal point to their attacks.
4 min: Barcelona aren’t even entertaining the idea of a historic comeback. They’re quick to put Chelsea under pressure with Alexia Putellas firing an effort slightly wide from about 20 yards out.
3 min: Already Barcelona are settling into a familiar pattern. They keep the ball for fun and find Aitana Bonmatí on the edge of the box. She flicks the ball over Sjoeke Nüsken’s head and fires her volley over the bar.
1 min: Johanna Rytting Kaneryd receives the ball on the right and there’s a huge roar from the crowd as she runs at Fridolina Rolfö. The players will need all the support they can get today.
Kick off
Barcelona kick us off and move the ball from left to right.
There’s a minute of silence to commemorate the life of Pope Francis.
Jonathan Liew
A message from Jonathan Liew:
Pretty decent turnout at Stamford Bridge for what most neutral observers assume is going to be a lost cause. Around 25,000 tickets sold, and it does seem like most of them have turned up. The potential to be part of something spectacular – however unlikely the prospect may feel – is a very powerful consumer pull. It’s why people buy lottery tickets. It’s why people humiliate themselves in the name of love. It’s why people – against all their artistic and commercial instincts – still let Woody Allen make movies.
The players are making their way to the pitch. Millie Bright looks stern, determined to improve on her performance last week. Before the game, she said: “Nothing is impossible within football or in sport if you have the right mentality, the right attitude.”
Tom Garry
Here’s a message from Tom Garry at the game:
The bright sunshine has brought smiles to Stamford Bridge but, when it comes to the football, there’s not a lot of optimism amongst the Chelsea supporters I’ve spoken to around the stadium today. Most of them seem to have a sense of realism that what we’re about to witness is a Barcelona procession into the final. But there’s also that little feeling of ‘maybe... what if?’ among a minority, and the stadium DJ is currently doing his best to get everybody on their feet with a blast of Rihanna. If Chelsea can score an early goal, perhaps this place will begin to believe...
“We know we can beat them but we’ll probably have to have the perfect game” said Bompastor to DAZN. “Maybe wait for them [Barcelona] to make some mistakes” she added.
Chelsea will need to see more of the ball in this game to stand any chance. Bompastor’s side only touched the ball 12 times in the opposition box during the first leg and completed just over half as many passes as the home side.
The last time Barcelona lost by three goals or more was in the 2019 Champions League final when Lyon beat them 4-1.
Lucy Bronze, who has won five Champions League titles including the 2019 trophy with Lyon, had some strong words for her Chelsea teammates after their first leg defeat. According to Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea right-back said: “The second leg is a new opportunity for us, to play a home game with the support of the fans, and we need to believe it’s possible to turn things around.”
The teams
Chelsea: Hampton, Bronze, Bright, Girma, Charles, Walsh, Cuthbert, Nüsken, Kaneryd, Ramírez, Baltimore
Subs: Spencer, Cox, Lawrence, Mpome, Kaptein, Jean-Francois, Hamano, Reiten, Brown, Macario, Beever-Jones
Barcelona: Cata Coll, Paredes, María León, Clàudia Pina, Graham, Alexia, Patri, Aitana, Rolfö, Pajor, Batlle
Subs: Gemma, Roebuck, Jana, Paralluelo, Marta, Vicky, Engen, Brugts, Caño, Schertenleib
The statistics make for tough reading from a Chelsea perspective. Check out Tom Garry’s match preview.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg between Chelsea and Barcelona.
Sonia Bompastor faces the biggest challenge of her Chelsea tenure today. In fact Bompastor said: “I think this one will be probably the biggest one [challenge] in my career as a manager.” Outplayed, outclassed and ultimately outscored in the first leg at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, Chelsea trail Barcelona 4-1 in the Champions League semi-final.
It’s a familiar situation for Barcelona who have made light work of Chelsea over the last few years. They beat Chelsea in the semi-final of the last two Champions League campaigns, and in the final of the 2020/21 season when they trounced Chelsea 4-0.
Remontada may be the most overused in football, but if Chelsea were to progress against the originators, it would be one of the greatest comebacks in their history. It looks unlikely but crazier things have happened.
Kick off is at 2pm. Email me to share your thoughts.
