Battling, brave and somewhat aggrieved, Chelsea’s Champions League dream died in front of a record crowd of 39,398. A first-half goal from the mercurial Aitana Bonmatí, the controversial sending off of Kadeisha Buchanan and a questionable second-half penalty scored by Fridolina Rolfö denied Emma Hayes’s side a place in the final in Bilbao next month, and a dream finish to her time with the Blues.
There was one change apiece for the showdown at Stamford Bridge. Mayra Ramírez was out of the squad entirely, with Hayes confirming the Colombia international had an injury that forced them to “change direction” and hand Catarina Macario a first Champions League start for the Blues. Meanwhile, Jonatan Giráldez recalled Lucy Bronze for Barcelona, with Mariona Caldentey dropping out.
Chelsea had done the unthinkable in Spain, delivering Barcelona’s first home defeat in more than five years and holding a team that hadn’t failed to score since April 2022. Those facts spoke to the challenge before them at Stamford Bridge, which they sold out for the first time. Would one goal be enough?
It took the visiting team 25 minutes to undo the magnificent job Hayes’s side had dome in Catalan capital, and the goal had been coming.
Bonmatí had warned of the calm in the Barça camp. “We have been able to overcome more difficult moments, like the Eindhoven final,” she said, when Barcelona came from two goals down last season to win 3-2 against Wolfsburg. “If we did it in 45 minutes, we can also do it in 90.”
It would be the Ballon d’Or-winning maestro who would find the opening, stepping around Niamh Charles before getting her shot away. It took a flick off Buchanan’s thigh to travel beyond the reach of Hannah Hampton.
The goal was the shot in the arm the Blues needed. Suddenly they started to escape the aggressive Barcelona press, and went close to regaining their advantage three times in seven minutes. First, Lauren James cut back from the left for Melanie Leupolz, the German international firing her close-range effort off the bar with the goal gaping, although VAR may have intervened for a possible offside in the buildup had it gone in. Then, Macario forced Cata Coll to push her effort around the post, before Sjoeke Nüsken’s cut-back into the middle was narrowly missed by James.
Despite the first-half dominance of the visiting side, they had only the one shot on target to Chelsea’s two. It was an improvement on their performance in Spain, but Chelsea’s back three looked assured – bar the goal. After the break the frenetic energy was maintained, and the home team went tantalisingly close just before the hour mark. James’s sweeping ball to Ashley Lawrence on the left was pulled back for Nüsken but the German international’s sliding effort skimmed off the base of the far post.
Chelsea’s hill got that bit steeper two minutes later, when Buchanan received her marching orders after a second yellow for a challenge on Patri Guijarro. It was a close call, and Chelsea’s bench protested with gusto. Their first substitute came not long after, Macario off and Guro Reiten on.
Despite Barcelona’s superiority in possession and numbers, it remained an end-to-end contest. Ona Batlle tested Hampton before Johanna Rytting Kaneryd cut inside only to sweep her effort into the arms of Coll, Chelsea down but very much not out.
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Hayes’s side were dealt another tough hand moments later, with Jess Carter easing the escape artist Bonmatí into Lawrence, bringing her down and conceding a penalty. It was soft, with the midfielder who had accused Chelsea of “playing dirty” in the first leg going down very easily, but it wasn’t an obvious enough error for VAR to overrule the decision. Up stepped Rolfö and the Sweden forward fired low into the corner, with Hampton diving the wrong way.
The kitchen sink was thrown on with six minutes remaining. Millie Bright, who had not played since November, was thrown on up front and Ève Périsset and Fran Kirby also joined the fray, but it was not enough. Barcelona’s game management was on point, seeing out the remaining minutes to crush the Blues.