Barcelona beat Chelsea to reach Champions League final
- Macdara Ferris
- Sat, Apr 27 2024
Reigning European champions Barcelona overcame a 1-0 first leg deficit to qualify for the Champions League final after defeating Chelsea 2-0 in the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.
They drew level in the tie after 25 minutes thanks to a deflected first half goal from player of the match Aitana Bonmatí. Patri Guijarro’s pass created the chance for Bonmatí whose shot beat Hannah Hampton aided by a deflection off Kadeisha Buchanan.
The Blues weren’t helped by Buchanan’s sending off as she picked up two yellow cards in five second half minutes just before the hour mark.
The win came thanks to a penalty earned by Bonmatí and converted by Fridolina Rolfö 15 minutes from time that eliminated Emma Hayes’ Chelsea team.
The result means the Catalan team will play in their fifth final in the last six seasons and incredibly their fourth in a row.
Jonatan Giráldez, the Barcelona coach, speaking to UEFA.com said: "We deserved the victory, we were better than Chelsea, we put on an amazing performance with the ball, mentally we were strong. I am very happy as that is very difficult, yet another final, it’s amazing.
The final will be played on the 25th May in Bilbao where Barca will play the winner of Sunday’s all-French semi-final. Lyon take a 3-2 lead into the second leg against PSG at the Parc des Princes having come from two goals down in the first leg.
Chelsea: Hampton; Carter, Buchanan, Charles; Cuthbert, Leupolz (Beever-Jones 76), Nüsken; Rytting Kaneryd (Périsset 84), Lawrence (Bright 84); James (Kirby 84), Macario (Reiten 63)
Barcelona: Catalina Coll; Engen, Irene Paredes, Ona Batlle (Mariona Caldentey 67); Bronze, Bonmatí (Putellas 90), Walsh, Patri Guijarro, Rolfö; Graham Hansen (Clàudia Pina 86), Salma Paralluelo
Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl …
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