A second-half purpose by Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen earned a 1-1 dwelling draw with Chelsea on Thursday of their girls’s Champions League semifinal, second leg for a 2-1 combination win and a 3rd straight look within the showpiece match.
Barca had edged Chelsea 1-0 within the first leg after Graham Hansen’s early strike and within the ultimate on June 3 will face both Arsenal or VfL Wolfsburg, who drew 2-2 within the first leg in Germany and play the second leg in London on Monday.
Despite some first-half probabilities it took Barca 63 minutes to extend its benefit from the primary leg though Chelsea had been fast to reply via Guro Reiten, alerting the 2020-21 winners that they might not be giving up with no struggle.
However, Barca managed to carry on and attain the ultimate.
“We’ve worked day and night for years to achieve this,” stated Player of the Match Aitana Bonmati, who earned an help on Graham Hansen’s purpose. “To reach the final in front of our own fans was fantastic but now we have to go and win it.
“In the second half I knew it was a tense situation but also a dangerous one because one slip from us could have let Chelsea level the tie.
“Then when Chelsea scored so soon after we went ahead, it was time to manage our performance. That’s key in elite football: you can enjoy yourself but you’ll always have to suffer.”
Barcelona may have opened the scoring early within the return leg via a close-range Graham Hansen purpose however it was dominated out for a handball within the eighth minute.
Forwards Asisat Oshoala and Mariona Caldentey had two extra probabilities for the hosts with the conflict goalless at halftime.
Barca continued to push for a purpose after the break and finally broke the impasse via Graham Hansen, who fired via the Chelsea keeper’s legs from a decent angle.
Chelsea grew into the sport within the second half and equalised 4 minutes later when winger Reiten discovered the online from a rebound following a counter-attack.
But regardless of Emma Hayes’ Chelsea facet pushing for the winner on the night time which might have taken the tie into additional time, they failed so as to add to the scoreline.
“I cannot ask any more from my players,” Hayes stated. “We lost the tie because of the home leg.
“We were brave, we executed the game plan, everyone delivered a performance and I’ve never seen a Barca team so panicked. Especially second half, we were the better team.
“We’ve shown a lot of wisdom and experience tonight – it just wasn’t enough.”
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com