Chelsea-Barça, Champions League semi-finals: Time.news, goals and result

2023-04-22 15:26:37

BarcelonaIn the same goal that Andrés Iniesta caused one baby boom among the Barça fans, Caroline Graham Hansen made a diagonal that culminated at the front of the area with a powerful and tight shot, impossible for Berger. Practically 14 years later, the Barça women’s players celebrated a goal with the Catalan fans in the same corner, also in the semi-finals of the Champions League wearing yellow. Who would have said that in May 2009, when the professionalization of women’s football in Spain was still a utopia? Iniesta’s goal helped them go to Rome and Graham Hansen’s, which led to a 0-1 win for Barça in London, puts them on track for the final in Eindhoven on June 3.

The last precedent with Chelsea was the Gothenburg final two years ago. And, as Barça’s coach at the time, Lluís Cortés, explained in this newspaper, this meant that the Blaugrana team had already started this tie with the psychological battle won. Barça took advantage of it and, above all, learned the lesson that Bayern Munich gave them in the group stage at the Allianz Arena, where in the 10th minute they were already losing 2-0. In the Champions League, there is no need to doubt it. Jonatan Giráldez’s team were forceful at Stamford Bridge from the first play of the game.

The first blow came in the 4th minute with the goal of Graham Hansen, one of the most unbalanced players on the planet who is repeatedly ignored in the individual awards. Still with Chelsea searching for balance with long passes to their reference, Sam Kerr, Geyse Ferreira again spooked the English with a shot that caught Berger. It took 25 minutes for Chelsea to put their best quality to work: transitions. Guro Reiten capped off the counter-attack by sending the ball into the back of the net, but the referee disallowed the goal for Kerr’s previous offside. Shortly afterwards the same two protagonists connected again and this time it was Lucy Bronze who avoided Reiten’s draw.

Stamford Bridge, despite not being full, received the players with a gala atmosphere that has become normalized in women’s football. In fact, the London stadium had limited capacity to 30,000 spectators (it has a capacity of just over 40,000) because at the same time, in the same neighborhood of Fulham, in the centenary Craven Cottage there was a Premier League match men’s between Fulham and Leeds. The official attendance figure at Stamford Bridge was 27,697 people.

Chelsea, who were without Kirby, Buchanan and Bright, gradually managed to bring the game to their style, a fact which caused Barça to suffer and the compasses of the team, Walsh, Aitana and Patri Guijarro, were not able to offer their best version. The Blaugrana response came from the personal plays of Graham Hansen, who completed a majestic first half.

The tempo of the game slowed down in the second half and Barça’s first dangerous combination play did not arrive until the 59th minute. Geyse again shot into the hands of Berger. This time, after an elegant assistance from Salma Paralluelo. It was the starting point for Barça to take control of the match script, good news that was affected by the injury to Bronze, who left with discomfort in the knee area of ​​his right leg, where put ice on the bench.

Alexia wants to play Thursday’s second leg at Camp Nou

Despite not starring in great scoring chances, the Catalan team’s prominence meant that Chelsea lived away from Sandra Paños’ goal. The players coached by Emma Hayes tried to unsettle with long balls, but were met by an insurmountable Paredes and Mapi León. In fact, Barça were about to leave London with a superior advantage. With 10 minutes left in the game, Marta Torrejón sent a header off the post. And there was still time for Chelsea to bring in Pernille Harder, one of Europe’s best players, who had been injured since November.

Meanwhile, Alexia Putellas watched it all from the stands at Stamford Bridge, where he was the only Blaugrana absent. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner is in the last breath of her recovery from her serious knee injury. Alexia’s return to turf is in the offing. He could even arrive at Camp Nou on Thursday to seal his ticket to the final. On Sunday, at 3.30 p.m., the other leg of the semi-finals takes place: Wolfsburg-Arsenal.

• Chelsea: Berger; Périsset (Kaneryd, 84′), Mjelde, Eriksson, Carter; Leupolz (Fleming, 84′), Cuthbert (Ingle, 68′), Reiten (Harder, 84′); Charles, Sam Kerr in Cankovic (James, 46′). Trainer: Emma Hayes
• Barça: Cloths; Bronze (Torrejón, 67′), Paredes, Mapi León, Rolfö; Walsh (Engen, 85′), Aitana, Patri Guijarro; Salma (Crnogorcevic, 85′), Graham Hansen (Oshoala, 84′) and Geyse Ferreira (Mariona, 60′). Coach: Jonatan Giraldez
• Goals: 0-1 Graham Hansen (4′)
• Referee: Jana Admakova (Czech Republic)
• Yellow cards: Sam Kerr (37′), Mapi León (41′), Walsh (63′), James (71′), Paños (92′)
• Red cards: None
• Stadium: Stamford Bridge. 27,697 spectators