That’s all from me today. Check out Tom Garry’s match report.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Sonia Bompastor insists that the gap between the teams isn’t “that much”:
“Frustrated about the result and these two games are big learnings for us.
“Barcelona are a really good team but the difference between the teams is not that much. One team has been clinical in both games but my team weren’t. The first 30 minutes, we created the first opportunities.”
Barcelona reach their fifth consecutive Champions League final as they aim to win their third consecutive title.
💙 Barcelona are heading to Lisbon ❤️#UWCL || #UWCLfinal pic.twitter.com/qPuQhobEkQ
— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) April 27, 2025
It’s the third time in a row that Barcelona have sent Chelsea packing in the semi-final of the Champions League. Despite a dominant domestic campaign, Bompastor’s side were way off the pace in this tie. The gap between the sides has widened.
Full time: Chelsea 1-4 Barcelona
The referee finally puts Chelsea out of their misery. Barcelona outclassed Chelsea in both legs and were good value for their 8-2 aggregate victory.
90+2 min: A late flurry from Chelsea sees Maika Hamano sting the hands of Catalina Coll.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-4 Barcelona (Kaptein, 90+1)
I don’t need to tell you it’s too little too late. In a replica of Aitana Bonmatí’s opening goal, Wieke Kaptein smashes the ball past Catalina Coll. Chelsea’s first goal against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge gives the crowd something to cheer about.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-4 Barcelona (Paralluelo, 90)
It’s much too easy. A simple ball over the top should be dealt with by Charles but a miscommunication between the defender and Hampton allows Paralluelo to poke the ball into the net.
Updated
86 min: Chelsea win a corner on the right. The outswinging deliver bounces off Aggie Beever-Jones’ head into the path of Lucy Bronze. The five-time Champions League winner connects with it well but her header is well saved by Catalina Coll.
83 min: Despite the scoreline, Hampton has been excellent. Chelsea give the ball away to Paralluelo, who only has the goalkeeper to beat. Hampton is quickly out to her feet and smothers the ball to prevent Paralluelo taking it around her.
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82 min: Walsh scoops a ball over the top to Maika Hamano. The forward does well to bring it down and loops her shot onto the roof of the net.
77 min: Somehow the ball hasn’t gone in. Putellas finds herself in acres of space and plays a through ball to Salma Paralluelo. Hampton makes herself big and makes another tremendous save. The ball is not away yet and Charles clears the follow up off the line.
75 min: Lucy Bronze shoots from about 35 yards out, out of pure desperation. The ball bobbles towards Coll, who controls the ball with her feet. That effort sums up Chelsea’s performance: lacklustre.
73 min: The atmosphere is understandably subdued at Stamford Bridge. Rolfö finds Putellas on the edge of the area but she blazes her shot over the bar.
A man has just walked through the press box holding up a piece of paper with the number 26,702 on it. Whether it’s the attendance or the number of Barcelona attempts on goal, impossible to say.
Updated
66 min: After a lull in play, Chelsea are creating chances. Kaneryd receives the ball in the box and fires a shot towards goal. Rolfö recovers well to deflect the ball out for a corner. The remaining Chelsea fans have something to cheer about.
64 min: This time Chelsea have a chance. Catarina Macario, who is on for Cuthbert, receives a through ball on the right and is through a goal. The forward drags her shot wide.
63 min: Big chance for Barcelona to make it four. Putellas lofts a long ball over the top to Pajor. The goalscorer is one on one with Hampton but the England keeper makes a fantastic save with her feet.
58 min: Chelsea look out of sorts. Putellas receives the ball on the edge of the box and lets fly. Her shot goes behind for a goal kick.
53 min: Baltimore does well to beat Batlle with some great skill. She dribbles, head down, past the oncoming defenders before smashing the ball into the side netting from a tight angle.
51 min: Barcelona aren’t done yet. This time Rolfö hits the ball over the bar from outside the box.
Maybe Arsenal will have better luck than Chelsea. They play Lyon later today. Check out Tom Garry’s preview.
49 min: Despite Chelsea’s best efforts to close the gap between them and Barcelona, they’re still nowhere near European champions. Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and the rest of Chelsea’s recent signings haven’t been able to make the difference.
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47 min: Sonia Bompastor was busy during the break. Ashley Lawrence and Aggie Beever-Jones are on for Naomi Girma and Mayra Ramírez.
45 min: Chelsea are back on the field and get the ball rolling. They’re playing for pride at this point.
Here’s a message from Peter:
“Chelsea are the best team in England … Barcelona are the best team in Europe.”
I can’t argue with that. There’s a real gulf in class between the two sides.
Halftime: Chelsea 0-3 Barcelona
The referee blows the whistle and Chelsea head down the tunnel for a breather. They’ve been blown away.
44 min: Barcelona are showing no mercy. They tee it up to Pina who hits an effort low towards Hampton’s right. Good save from the England keeper.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-3 Barcelona (Pina, 43)
In fact, it’s getting embarrassing. Barcelona are prowling on the edge of the Chelsea box. After an exchange of passes, Putellas lays it off to Clàudia Pina. The competition’s top scorer sets herself and bends the ball past Hampton.
Updated
GOAL! Chelsea 0-2 Barcelona (Pajor, 41)
It’s definitely over now. Caroline Graham glides past Charles as if she isn’t there and cuts the ball back from the byline. Without breaking stride, Ewa Pajor ghosts into the box and taps the ball into the back of the net.
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36 min: Barcelona are toying with Chelsea. They draw Chelsea in by playing the ball around the back before forcing them back the other way with a long ball. It’s excellent game management from Pere Romeu’s team.
30 min: Nüsken has looked bright for Chelsea. The German midfielder drags the ball away from an opposition player and finds Baltimore again. This time Baltimore picks out Ramírez who half heartedly goes down under a challenge.
28 min: As much as I tried to build up this game, Barcelona have largely looked comfortable, even before the goal. Chelsea have never scored against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Barcelona (Aitana, 25)
Surely that’s game, set and match. Aitana Bonmatí drives with the ball from her own half, evading a slide tackle from Niamh Charles. The Spanish midfielder just keeps on going and smashes the ball past Hampton at her near post. Clinical!
Updated
23 min: Another chance for Chelsea. After a turnover in play, Cuthbert plays a through ball to Nüsken who hits the ball at Catalina Coll’s feet.
22 min: Chance for Chelsea. Ramírez picks up the ball on the right and cuts a cross back for Baltimore on the six yard line. Baltimore is unable to connect with the ball though.
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.
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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.
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.”
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.
