Emma Hayes had an impeccable plan for Chelsea: neutralize Barcelona’s dangerous attack, make them desperate and achieve a victory with a taste of revenge. The blue team had never beaten the Blaugrana. This time, perhaps against all odds, perhaps unexpectedly, Chelsea beat Barça at home, in Montjuïc, in front of 36,428 spectators who, tormented, put pressure on the referee and the rival team with their noise (0-1). For the first time, the roles of victim and executioner were exchanged. Barcelona was erratic in its passing, anxious, without the power to make decisions or construct the game. There were moments of lucidity, but the sun that shone on Montjuïc at the start of the match ended up hiding behind the clouds.
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Cata Coll, Ona Batlle, Irene Paredes, Fridolina Rolfö, Ingrid Engen, Patri Guijarro, Keira Walsh, Aitana Bonmatí, Salma Paralluelo, Caroline Graham Hansen and Mariona Caldentey
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Hannah Hampton, Kadeisha Buchanan, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Erin Cuthbert, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Ashley Lawrence, Sjoeke Nüsken, Melanie Leupolz, Mayra Ramírez and Lauren James
Goals 0-1 min. 39: Erin Cuthbert.
Referee Stephanie Frappart
Yellow cards Patri Guijarro (min. 79) and Irene Paredes (min. 82)
The scenario of both teams stood out for their contrast, with similarities—both coaches, both Jonatan Giráldez and Emma Hayes, will leave their clubs this summer—but big differences. While Barcelona arrived in a bustle in search of the poker of titles – with the Super Cup in its pocket, the League on the verge of candy and already in the final of the Queen’s Cup against Real Sociedad on May 18 – Chelsea landed on the magical mountain of Montjuïc in the middle of the pothole. At blues Luck was not smiling on them, and destiny was moving away from their objectives: they lost the League Cup final against Arsenal three weeks ago, but two weeks ago they also lost in the FA Cup semi-finals against Manchester United. And, furthermore, with the great loss of the team’s star, Sam Kerr, affected by the pandemic of cruciate ligament injuries. But nothing could stop them against Barcelona. The path of both teams is different. But the motivation is the same: some to get rid of the ghosts, others to touch glory, with both coaches hoping to leave the best possible legacy.
The Montjuïc Olympic stage was opened for the second time for Giráldez’s team. Flares, chants and the smell of smoke greeted the Barça bus. With a gala eleven and with Alexia Putellas as a substitute, she would be serious on the bench. A brave rival awaited them on the field, with a thirst for revenge: they had never managed—in their three previous games—to defeat Barcelona. Emma Hayes’ team covered the midfield with efficiency and solvency, and on the occasions in which the Blaugranas stepped into the rival area, they ran into the blues planted and condensed in front of the young goalkeeper Hannah Hampton. Neither the speed of Salma Paralluelo – more imprecise than usual – nor the omnipresence of Aitana Bonmatí managed to cross the front of the area, the most unprotected, but neither could they break the barrier that Hayes built with a great purpose: to make Barcelona uncomfortable, in their own home, on a great stage.
The blaugranas failed to build their game. Irene Paredes encouraged the team by raising her arm, and Ingrid Engen, rocky in her new role this season as center back, was the only one capable of stopping the power of Mayra Ramírez and Lauren James, who understood each other
perfectly leading and coordinating Chelsea’s attack. But she couldn’t stop captain Erin Cuthbert who, after a pass from Sjoeke Nüsken, broke through the soft Barça defense to score the first goal of the game in Cata Coll’s goal. Giráldez ran to the locker room at the end of the first half. Nervously, he wrote down in his notebook while he left the coaches’ box to constantly give instructions. Barcelona needed a change.
That did not arrive during the second half. With the right wing missing – Ona Batlle erratic and Caroline Graham Hansen absent – Barcelona could not find its space. And a penalty disallowed for positional offside did not help the Blaugrana to lift their heads. Time was running between the VAR review and Jessica Carter lying on the ground due to a shot from Paralluelo that hit her head. Barcelona abandoned themselves to a revulsive Alexia, a young Vicky López and a Patri Guijarro relocated to center back, who could not withstand Mayra’s body play. And they also gave themselves up to come back at Stamford Bridge in a week to stay alive in the Champions League, to retain the title and to maintain the throne in Europe. Emma Hayes smiled: her plan worked perfectly.
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