Barcelona Femeni progressed to the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the fourth time in a row. After their dramatic comeback against Wolfsburg in the final held at Eindhoven in the previous edition of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Barcelona Femeni had the task of defending their European crown in the 2023–2024 season. The Catalan giants have brought themselves one step closer to defending their title after staging another comeback against Chelsea yesterday in the second leg of the semifinals.
Heading into the game, Barca were trailing by a goal following their shocking 1-0 loss at the hands of the English side in the first leg. The Blaugrana however had everything to play for at Stamford Bridge and suceeded in toppling the odds in their favor after defeating Chelsea 2-0 in regulation time.
A first-half goal from the World’s Best Player, Aitana Bonmati, set the stage for the Blaugrana’s comeback ambition. The midfielder received the ball on the edge of the box, took a couple of touches to evade her marker, and set herself up to fire a low shot that found the bottom corner with the aid of a slight deflection from a Chelsea defender.
Barcelona’s chances of qualification increased when Kadeisha Buchanan was sent off in the 59th minute after she was shown a second yellow card by the referee a few minutes after receiving her first yellow card. The defender was sent off after committing a foul on Patri Guijarro in the middle of the park.
Barca took advantage of the numerical superiority and pushed for a second goal. The Blaugrana increased their attacking tempo and created more opportunities in the opposition half. The breakthrough finally came through in the 73rd minute when Aitana Bonmati was tripped in the penalty area after a quick acceleration that saw her burst past two defenders in the box.
After VAR intervention, Fridolina Rolfo stepped up for Barcelona and calmly placed the ball in the back of the net, sending Hannah Hampton the wrong way and putting Barcelona ahead in the game and on aggregate in the tie.
ICE COLD 🥶 pic.twitter.com/SGm1SUIahE
— Barça Femení (@BarcaFem) April 27, 2024
Although the Catalan queens were tested and were made to dig deeper than usual for a breakthrough, Barcelona did enough to best the London club and progress to their fourth consecutive European final.
Barcelona’s victory sets them up for a final against the winner of the second semifinal clash between Paris Saint Germain and Olympique Lyonnais. The final is set to be played in Bilbao on Saturday, May 25. 2024.
