Barcelona travel to London in the wake of their Champions League semi-final clash where they will be facing off against Chelsea on Saturday, 22nd of April 2023 at 11:30 AM UTC.
The Spanish league leaders make the away trip after a convincing win over Atletico Madrid in their league game last week. The game against Chelsea will be played over two legs after which whoever edges out on aggregate will head on to play the final that will take place in Eindhoven on the 3rd of June, 2023.
The match promises to be quite a spectacle as both teams have set an outstanding record in the competition this season. Chelsea is the side with the least number of goals conceded and Barcelona is the side with the highest number of goals scored. The best defensive side in the competition would be looking forward to stopping the best-attacking side in the competition.
However, the fact that both teams have contrasting strengths in attack and defense, does not mean that the opposite side to their games can be undermined. Chelsea’s attack has seen them score 21 goals throughout the competition, while Barcelona has conceded 7 goals in the competition this season.
UWCL: Head to Head
Both sides last played against each other in the Champions League in the final held in Gutenberg in 2021, where Barcelona lifted the trophy after defeating the Blues by 4 goals to nothing.
Road to the semis
Getting to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League is no child’s play. Both sides have had to go through 4 teams each to get to this stage. We take a look at the performances of both sides so far in the competition.
Barcelona
Barcelona came out top of their group after playing against Benfica, Bayern Munich, and Rosengard over two legs each. With a statement win on Matchday 1 against Benfica where the Blaugrana convincingly won 9-0, they went on to win all their group stage matches, except for the 3-0 loss against Bayern Munich in the second leg played in Germany.
Scoring a total of 29 goals and conceding 6, in the group stage, Barcelona came out top of the group after edging out Bayern Munich on goal difference despite both teams having the same points.
Pitted against newcomers, AS Roma in the quarter-final, the Spanish champions marched on to win 1-0 and 5-1 respectively over two legs with the second leg taking place in front of their home crowd at the Spotify Camp Nou. A win that secured their place in the semifinals where they now have to face off with Chelsea.
Chelsea
On the other hand, Chelsea played against Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, and Vilaznia in the group stage. Winning 5 games and drawing one, while conceding just 1 goal and scoring a total of 19, they came out of their group in pole position.
The English side then drew the defending champions, Olympique Lyonnais, in the quarter-final. A two-legged affair where Chelsea qualified on penalties after Lyon pulled a comeback from their 1-0 first-leg loss in France. The second leg in London ended 2-1 in favor of Lyon, however, both sides were tied on an aggregate and needed penalties to decide who would go through to the semi-finals.
Injuries
Despite having most of the squad fit and ready to play, some players are still out due to injury. They include Alexia Putellas (knee), Asisat Oshoala (groin), and Claudia Pina (ankle).
Possible Lineup
Barcelona: Panos, Mapi, Paredes, Bronze, Rolfo, Aitana, Patri, Walsh, Oshoala, Graham, Mariona
Subs: Cata, Font, Codina, Jana, Rabano, Marta, Engen, Crnogocervic, Bruna, Geyse, Paralluelo, Vicky, Emma
Prediction
It’s the UWCL semi-finals, and the game promises to be an exciting watch, but being away from Chelsea might prove a bit tricky, we go with a 3-1 scoreline in favor of FC Barcelona.
FC Barcelona Femeni squad list (UWCL)
Barcelona Femeni will be hoping to secure an away win and get the job half done in this weekend’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea FC Women.
They are currently on top of the table in Liga F and could secure the league trophy in the next few matchdays. With this in mind, the team took the option of resting a couple of players in the last game against Atletico Madrid, with players like Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, and Caroline Graham Hansen all being substituted with the Champions League clash in mind.
The rested players also ensured that Jonathan Giraldez was able to give a chance to get a couple of players back into the dynamics of the team.
Alexia Putellas
However, the FC Barcelona women still have their captain Alexia Putellas sidelined for this clash, even though she is already training back with the team players and could get her chance back on the pitch soon. Rumor has it that she could be back for the second leg of the semi-final after her social media post on Monday which, some people think of as a cryptic message, she posted herself in the Catalan jersey number 11 which is also 11 days to the second leg of the tie at Camp Nou.
Mariona Caldentey, Claudia Pina, and Asisat Oshoala
Mariona Caldentey will be traveling with the team to London after recovering from her 2-month injury last week and playing a part in the game against Atletico Madrid.
The team will also be in the service of Claudia Pina, who has just been medically discharged after recovering from her ankle injury. As well as Asisat Oshoala was also given a medical green light after being sidelined in the last league game against Atletico Madrid due to discomfort in the groin.
These players will be traveling with the team to London.
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