Women’s Champions: Barcelona overcomes Chelsea and goes to the final

BARCELONA — At Barcelona nothing stops them, after becoming the first team in history in the Women’s Champions able to come back from a semi-final as a visitor thanks to a 0-2 defeat against Chelseaso he will defend in San Mamés (Bilbao) the crown he won last season in Eindhoven.

Under the leadership of a Aitana Bonmatí key (he scored a goal and caused the other to get a penalty), Jonatan Giráldez’s Barcelona beat Chelsea 0-2 at Stamford Bridge and is already awaiting a rival in the final on May 25.

It was, this one that played in London, a much more recognizable Barcelona than the disappointing one in Montjuïc. But, despite the defeat, we also saw a Chelsea with more game and danger than in the first leg. The champions dominated but they found themselves with rivals, despite their initial advantage on the scoreboard, who were less conservative than in the first leg.

Barcelona has become its worst nightmare for the English team. She won the 2021 final and eliminated her in the semifinals for the second consecutive time in 2024, in a second leg match that began to turn upside down shortly before half an hour, in a surprising crossed shot by Aitana Bonmatí that rebounded fatally for the Chelsea on the leg of Kadeisha Buchanan, the other protagonist of the afternoon, to mislead the local goal.

The 0-1 should have been a relief but it caused, on the contrary, a suffocation for Barça, who spent ten fatal minutes in which a misplaced shot annulled Melanie Leupolz’s shot against the crossbar, Catarina Macario’s poisoned shot was saved by Cata Coll and the slowness in the combination inside the area prevented Irene Paredes’s blunder on a transfer from ending in a goal.

He suffered against all logic and was grateful for the arrival of the break, during which time Giráldez, agile in his reading of the match, tweaked positions to restore confidence, and dominance, to Barcelona.

The keys to the tie were deciphered in two minutes: in the 57th minute Sjoeke Nüsken hit a low cross shot against the post, and in the 59th minute the centre-back Buchanan saw the second yellow card and was sent off, leaving Chelsea with one less player and giving way to a different party.

If the local coach responded by bringing out a forward (Macario) to introduce a defense (Guro Reiten), Giráldez responded with ambition, giving way to Mariona Caldentey instead of Ona Batlle, a very offensive change that turned Barça back in dominator…

Until Jess Carter pushed Aitana when she was running towards the goal on the right side of the area and the penalty, disputed by the locals but clear when viewed and repeated, was converted by Fridolina Rolfo to complete the comeback, a 0-2 that gave them the pass to the final.

From there to the conclusion, Chelsea wanted to but couldn’t, despite the spirit and drive of a fan who did their part, and a Barcelona that was able to even increase its income maintained its nerve, its play and its calm.

He didn’t need it, despite the missed goal by Paralluelo, and he sealed his place in the final with as much elegance as justice and solvency.

On the way to the perfect season, Barcelona women’s team, which can win the League in two days, is already in the final of the Queen’s Cup, which will be played on May 18 against Real Sociedad, and in another final of the Champions, waiting for a rival that will come out between Olympique Lyon or PSG who will play on Sunday in Paris with a minimal advantage for the Lyonnais (3-2).