Chelsea make UWCL statement of intent, end Barcelona’s perfect run

London — chelsea tied 1-1 with barcelona At Stamford Bridge on Thursday, a uefa women’s champions league The match was delayed for eight minutes during the first half due to a technical glitch.

Both teams know each other very well, having faced each other at the semi-final stage of the tournament in the last three seasons, so this was always going to be one of the marquee matches of the Champions League pool stage. And for the most part it lived up to its expectations, with both teams showing why they are favorites to lift the trophy this season.

Chelsea, who gave name Millie Bright On the bench, opened the scoring through a ellie carpenter Wondergoal after 16 minutes, only for eva pajor To equalize in the 24th minute, Chelsea attacked uncertainly in the box and scored.

The match was played at such a fast pace that the match had to be stopped in the 37th minute. It seemed that this happened due to a technical fault in the stadium. The delay lasted eight minutes, with both teams warming up on the pitch in freezing temperatures.

The situation was much the same in the second half, and Chelsea thought they had just got the lead. caterina macarioThe most severe goal being ruled out for offside. Carpenter then had an incredible chance to put Chelsea ahead in the 80th minute, but he fired wide, leaving Chelsea the more unhappy of the two teams without finding a winner.

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Chelsea’s intention to remain in the Champions League

Chelsea must be bored of watching Barcelona. The Catalans have been Chelsea’s Champions League rivals, with Barcelona winning five of their seven meetings since the 2021 Champions League final. Barça won it 4–0 and Chelsea have met them at the semi-final stage of the competition for the last three seasons. Barcelona advanced on all three occasions.

So this was a test of Chelsea’s credibility. The Champions League trophy has been Chelsea’s most coveted goal for so long, but it has never been able to reach it. Watching armory A complete victory last season would have shocked Chelsea, and with the impressive performances from their world-class squad and the turnaround of other teams, this would seem an excellent chance to end their wait for Europe’s biggest honour.

While Chelsea and Barca will advance to the knockout stage – either directly or through a playoff – this match shows where Chelsea stand. And for the most part, they rose to the challenge.

While Ellie Carpenter was excellent Erin Cuthbert The heart of the team was beating in the middle of the pitch. Naomi Girma Performed brilliantly at center back in Chelsea’s 3-5-2 formation. sandy baltimore He enjoyed the place he got on the left side. He kept Barcelona a superstar Aitana Bonmati Calm and there was a possibility of winning it.

Macario’s offside effort was ruled out by the narrowest of margins and then in the 80th minute Carpenter had an incredible opportunity as he sent an effort wide of the target for most of the match. But overall Chelsea performed well. –Hamilton

Barcelona’s great Champions League run ends

There are no perfect teams left in the Champions League, which is probably a good thing for the game. after ol lyonnes And Manchester UnitedThe 100% record ended on Wednesday in London after an emphatic win against Barcelona on Thursday Bayern Munich, Roma And oh Leuven.

Barca coach Pere Romeu is unlikely to be too worried, mind. His team remains top with 10 points after four matches and have now, theoretically, played their two toughest matches, at home to Bayern and away to Chelsea. it’s hard to imagine benfica And paris fc There will be a lot of problems for them in their last two matches.

This makes it difficult to draw any conclusions from the draw at Stamford Bridge. Barca dominated the Blues in last year’s semi-final, but were unable to put them aside in the same manner this time. But with a point that wasn’t a terrible result, plus their small team being pushed to the limit this time around, it seemed, certainly at times in the second half, that they were very happy to take a draw and get back to Catalonia.

Romeu’s changes, if anything, were defensive. Aicha Camera’introduction to Esme Brugues Certainly it was, even though it took them an age to introduce portugal international Kika NazarethIt was by no means the clearest sign that the Spanish champions were satisfied with a point on a cold night in the English capital, which came just days after a big win, real Madrid In Liga F, — Marsden

Chelsea’s depth tested

Chelsea are building a team to compete on all fronts. They come into this after two uncharacteristic draws in the WSL, such is the standard of this group that they have won six titles in a row.

But there is a shortage of world class personnel among the injured hannah hampton, Sam Kerr And Mayra RamirezAnd as they reproduce lauren james After his injury in the summer slowly and with Guro Riten Also absent on parental leave, Chelsea had to turn to their talent pool for Barça. But what you see is Chelsea’s incredible ability to convert like for like.

Take Aggie Beaver-Jones – she ran the Barça defense for 72 minutes, and after emptying her legs, she was replaced by Macario, who was also a fantastic player. You’d think he’d be missing a bit due to absent personnel, but it’s these kinds of opportunities that he’s repeatedly sought to bring to his team, some of the best young, hungry players in the world.

livia peng Performed well in goal in Hampton’s absence, and could do nothing for Pajor in the first, while the fact that Bright was on the bench shows the strength of options Bompastor had. –Hamilton

game

Erin Cuthbert explains how Chelsea kept Barcelona quiet

Erin Cuthbert explains Chelsea’s gameplan in their 1-1 Women’s Champions League draw with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.

Pajor symbolizes the depth of Barcelona

The good news for Barça in a relatively dull match was another goal from Pajor. After making squad cuts in the summer, with a renewed focus on youngsters such as Camara, clara serajordi And Sydney SchertenliebThe team’s depth has been tested in recent weeks with 1-0 defeats real sociedad In Liga F it was highlighted that they are not unbeatable.

However, in Pajor, he has one of the best goalscorers in the game. poland The striker is not the most aesthetically pleasing of players, but he has the ability to score when it comes down to it. He showed this with two goals in a 4–0 win against Madrid at the weekend, when he also had two more goals disallowed, the first for marginal offside and the second for a controversial handball.

He tore Barça apart once again against Chelsea, finding the net at a time when his team were being handed defeat. It’s impossible to put a price on how valuable he is to his team in the final third.

Barca’s depth will continue to be tested, he said. lia alexandri Has stepped up brilliantly in the midfield in the absence of Patri Guijarro In recent weeks, and again at Stamford Bridge, there were brilliant performances, but it still looks like this is a team that could struggle in the second half of the season if they suffer any kind of injury crisis. — Marsden

Millie Bright’s absence is hurting Chelsea

Of all the team news, the notable missing name was Millie Bright.

For so long she has been central to Chelsea’s success, an incredible servant of the club and one of their finest players. But you think we’re starting to see a changing of the guard. Girma has had a slow introduction to Chelsea, having suffered a few injuries since joining in that world record transfer last January.

Sources told ESPN Girma would have been used more often as part of the first-choice defense this season had he not suffered injuries, but they have taken a conservative approach to keep him as fresh as possible.

On Sunday, captain Bright was eventually taken off at half-time in a 1–1 draw liverpool caught for beta olsonBrake on counter attack. Four days later and with a great performance from Bright, Girma and Nathalie Bjorn produced brilliant performances against Barça. lucy bronze The second part of that three-part defense.

There’s plenty of time left this season to see more of Bright, but this was the first time we’ve seen signs of pecking order manager Sonia Bompastor favoring defense for these big matches. It is also testament to how ruthless Bompastor is prepared to be by removing his captain as Chelsea chase European dominance. –Hamilton