Barcelona punish Chelsea to take three-goal lead in Women's Champions League semi-final

New York Times

20-04-2025

Barcelona secured a decisive 4-1 home victory over Chelsea in the first leg of the Women's Champions League semi-final.
The tournament's leading scorer, Claudia Pina, scored twice as Barca scored three goals in the final 20 minutes to take a commanding first-leg lead.
Chelsea's goal came from winger-turned-outside back Sandy Baltimore in the 74th minute, as the Women's Super League leaders created few scoring chances.
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Barca's first scoring opportunity came in the tenth minute, when a shot grazed the hand of Chelsea defender Natalie Bjorn inside the box. A video assistant referee (VAR) review led to a penalty, but Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas was denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
The reigning Champions League title holders maintained an airtight midfield press throughout the half which Chelsea struggled to break free from, resulting in sporadic line-breaking balls played in behind Barcelona's defense, primarily to striker Mayra Ramirez, whose efforts were quickly and aggressively stifled before she or any other Chelsea attackers could create meaningful or threatening chances.
The visiting team's first shot on target came in stoppage time of the first half from an Aggie Beever-Jones free kick but her effort was pushed out of bounds by Barcelona No 1 Cata Coll.
With 10 minutes left in the first half, Putellas wrestled the ball free from a scrum in the midfield — which saw several Chelsea players freezing play in anticipation of a foul being called — and slotted a ball through to Ewa Pajor, who slid it past Hampton to give Barca the lead.
The Catalan side tightened its grip on the game in the 70th minute, facilitating a fast-paced counterattack that carried Ona Battle all the way up the pitch toward the end line. The low, driven cross from the outside back was redirected into the back of the net by Pina, who had been subbed on four minutes prior.
But Chelsea were not to be completely denied in their away fixture. Four minutes after Pina's goal, Chelsea and USWNT striker Catarina Macario switched a ball across the mouth of the penalty box to Baltimore, whose clinical and characteristic left-footed finish kept Chelsea in the match.
That revival was ultimately short-lived, as Barcelona defender Irene Paredes connected on a corner kick in the 82nd minute and buried the ball past Hampton with her head, deepening their lead to 3-1. And in the 90th minute, Pina deepened her status as this tournament's most prolific goal scorer, receiving a pass from Putellas and pounding the ball past Chelsea's back line to wrap the game up.
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Despite Barcelona's newfangled defense to start the game — with Signe Brugts, typically a winger, assigned the role of left-back – its veteran centre-back pairing of Mapi Leon and Irene Paredes managed to physically and mentally quell any major threat posed by the quick and gritty Ramirez. Leon bodied Ramirez off the ball to deny the striker a potential one-on-one with goalkeeper Cata Coll in the first half, and in the second, Coll herself shoved her off the ball after a play had restarted.
Midfielders Wieke Kaptein and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd were noticeably quiet in the first half, unable to create scoring opportunities and further emphasizing the absence of Lauren James. The forward was unable to play due to a hamstring injury picked up during the international break, and Chelsea suffered without anyone seemingly able to break through or muscle past Barcelona's midfield and break into the final third.
Chelsea were forced to make a defensive substitution in the closing minutes of the game, just before a set piece, when USWNT defender Naomi Girma replaced an injured Bjorn and made her Champions League debut. But the milestone was quickly overshadowed by Barcelona's third goal.
Bronze, who is playing her first season with Chelsea after moving over from Barcelona, said after the match: 'I think the whole game was played to Barca's preference. I think both on the ball, off the ball, I think it took us a while to get into the rhythm.
'I think even, like, the refereeing was to their preferred way, a lot more fouls, a lot more easy fouls. You know, an English team likes to be more aggressive, I think we couldn't quite find our rhythm because of that. Once they scored a few goals, we got more tired, maybe just let the game get a little bit away from us in the end.'
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Heading into an uphill second leg is, for better or worse, familiar to Chelsea, who will return home to Stamford Bridge next Sunday three goals away from leveling the tie. They faced nearly the same against Manchester City in the quarterfinals when they were down two goals and beat their English opponents 3-0 to secure their place in the last four.
Walsh, who also made a recent move from Barcelona to join Chelsea, emphasized after the game that while Barcelona is a different test than City, confidence will be key in the next fixture.
'It's tough but we've got to go for it,' she said. 'It's different against Barcelona, they've got so many good attacking players, but I think, for me, we just need to take a little more confidence in our own abilities and how we can play the ball and hopefully it will be a better game, the next one.'
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