Chelsea’s Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert celebrate in Barcelona (Picture: Reuters)
Chelsea head into the home leg of their Champions League semi-final with a slender lead after they became the first team in five years to beat Barcelona at home.
The Spanish superpower had not lost a match in the Champions League since December 2022 but Erin Cuthbert’s goal in the 40th minute means Chelsea will kick off on Saturday with a crucial advantage.
This was Chelsea’s fourth meeting with Barcelona, having lost 4-0 to them in the final three years ago and being knocked out at this same stage last year.
The progress in that time has been clear to see with manager Emma Hayes iterating on the game plan which saw them only narrowly beaten 2-1 on aggregate in 2022-23.
Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez had been in the stands to watch Chelsea lose to Manchester United the previous weekend in the FA Cup semi-final but Saturday’s team bore scant resemblance to that one. Just like last season, Chelsea switched to a back five, with former winger Niamh Charles used as the left-sided centre-back.
Last year, even that was not enough to stop Caroline Graham Hansen, who scored in both legs. She was much quieter this time out, with Charles combining with Ashley Lawrence to deal with her. In fact, Barcelona managed only one shot on target in the whole match.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes got the better of Barcelona (Picture: Reuters)
Despite the defensive formation, Chelsea did not sit back and the goal itself came from their high press which forced centre-back Irene Paredes to pass the ball straight to Lawrence.
That allowed Cuthbert to play a sharp pass-and-move on the edge of the area with Sjoeke Nusken before finishing beyond goalkeeper Cata Coll.
Regardless of what happens in the second leg, victory in the first will be a memorable achievement for Chelsea after what was arguably their best-ever Champions League performance under Hayes.
Carter is Jess the job for Blues
While there were plenty of Chelsea players who deserved plaudits for their performance under the Spanish sun at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Jess Carter stood out in particular.
Three years ago, Carter struggled significantly in the final. This time she was outstanding and named player of the match.
Carter has often looked at her best in a back three – it was also the role she played for England during the World Cup.
Here, she was defensively excellent the whole match, with the highlight being an exceptional sliding challenge to prevent Salma Paralluelo getting one-on-one with Blues goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
It has been an important season for Carter, who has found herself in and out of Chelsea’s starting XI even though she has been at the club since 2018-19.
With captain Millie Bright unavailable through injury for the vast majority of this year, the growth in Carter’s leadership has been clear to see with the centre-back often spotted talking in team huddles despite not wearing the armband.
Jess Carter was the Player Of The Match in the first leg (Picture: Getty Images)
Her performance against Barcelona felt even more composed given Chelsea announced they had sold her partner, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, to American side Gotham FC the day before the match.
There has been a lot of discussion around the impact of relationships on dressing rooms in the women’s game but Carter’s performance was the perfect example of professional composure.
Carter (pictured) first caught the eye with her displays as a 16-year-old for Birmingham in the Champions League. It is fitting ten years on she has found her way back to impressing in the same competition.
Full house needed at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea will be hoping to create a special atmosphere at Stamford Bridge when Barcelona arrive for the return leg.
With 27,000 tickets already sold, the club will be hoping they can top the 32,970 who were at the game against Arsenal earlier in the season.
That is their highest attendance this year as they have struggled to keep pace with the Gunners when it comes to attracting big crowds.
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Case in point was Arsenal’s 42,820 for their last Emirates Stadium fixture of the season against Leicester last Sunday.
While far below the highs of 60,000 they achieved for games against Manchester United and Tottenham, it demonstrated the repeatability of getting fans in. It was all the more impressive given Arsenal are six points off first in the WSL and 11 points ahead of fourth, meaning they have practically nothing to play for any more.
Given the importance of this match for Chelsea, the crowd are sure to be crucial. After the win over Arsenal, Cuthbert spoke about how important the ‘hostile’ atmosphere the fans had created was to the players.
As the Blues attempt to reach only their second Champions League final, every bit of support could add up to a big boost.
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