Barcelona vs Chelsea: Preview of Women’s Champions League Semi-Final

Bidding to reach their fourth UEFA Women’s Champions League final in five seasons, Barcelona maintain a slim lead over Chelsea after their 1-0 win in London on 22 April.

The First Division club, reaching the semi-finals for the fifth consecutive season, secured a first-leg win at Stamford Bridge thanks to Caroline Graham Hansen’s stunning goal in the fourth minute in what was the first meeting between these teams since the final. of this competition in 2020/21.

In that 2021 event in Gothenburg, the blaugranas registered the biggest win of the competition in a final by defeating the Londoners 4-0. Melanie Leupolz conceded an own goal in the first minute, before Alexia Putellas from a 14th-minute penalty, Aitana Bonmatí (21′) and Graham Hansen (36′) rounded off a sensational first half as Barcelona awarded his first European title.

Barça, whose UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final record is three wins and two losses, have advanced in three of their last four ties at this stage. His only setback in that time came against Wolfsburg in 2019/20. Current Barcelona forward Fridolina Rolfö scored the only goal in the 58th minute for the Frauen-Bundesliga club.

To have a chance of reaching their second final after that 2021 defeat against the Catalans, Chelsea must become the first team to beat Barcelona in this competition since Lyon in March 2018.

The ‘Blues’ have only successfully overcome one of their three previous semi-final ties: the last, the 5-3 aggregate against Bayern Munich (2-1 away, 4-1 home) in 2020/21, with a double from Fran Kirby and a goal from Pernille Harder, key in Chelsea’s comeback in the second leg.

Players to watch

Alexia Putellas

The 29-year-old could play her first game of the season, having returned to training following a knee injury suffered in Spain’s preparation for UEFA Women’s Euro 2022.

Alexia Putellas converted a 14th-minute penalty against Ann-Katrin Berger in a 4-0 win against Chelsea in Gothenburg in May 2021, lifting the trophy as captain.

The attacking midfielder scored Barcelona’s crowning goal in a 3-1 loss to Lyon in last season’s final in Turin. It was her eleventh goal in the 2021/22 competition that made her the top scorer.

She was named Women’s Champions League Player of the 2021/22 season by the UEFA Technical Observer Panel.

Alexia Putellas scored twice in Barça’s 5-1 first-leg win against Wolfsburg in last season’s semi-final at the Camp Nou.

Pernille Harder

The 30-year-old attacker came off the bench in the 84th minute of the 1-0 first-leg loss, her first appearance since November due to a hamstring injury sustained for the Danish national team.

The striker scored three goals and another in her last appearance in the Women’s Champions League, an 8-0 home win against Vllaznia on matchday two.

Harder scored Chelsea’s third goal in a 4-1 home win against Bayern in the May 2021 semi-finals, putting the Blues ahead on aggregate for the tie.

The forward played the 90 minutes of the defeat of the ‘Blues’ in the 2021 final against Barcelona (4-0), the third time in four seasons that she was runner-up in this competition, since she had done so with Wolfsburg in 2018 and 2020.

The attacker was part of the Wolfsburg team that eliminated Barça in the 2019/20 semifinals, winning 1-0 in a one-game tie played in San Sebastián.

The Danish international was named Women’s Champions League 2019/20 Forward of the Season (in the first edition of the award) after having been the competition’s top scorer the previous season with eight goals.