Chelsea Women blast Benfica away in first leg of round of 32

Chelsea Women started their latest Champions League campaign by blasting Benfica away to the tune of 5-0. What happened in the match?

Chelsea Women spent big over the last few years to solidify an already amazing side at the top of the women’s game. Much like it always was for the men until 2012, the Champions League remains the unclaimed golden goose that everyone wants to add to the cabinet.

They could not have asked for a better start to the campaign. Away to Benfica in the round of 32, Chelsea Women crushed the Portuguese sides hopes and dreams in one half. It was 4-0 at half time and eventually it ended at 5-0. Away. That will allow the women to rotate heavy for the return fixture as they seek all honors available like always.

Chelsea started with their usual strong lineup. Emma Hayes hasn’t been rotating very much this season as she has been sticking with her 4-4-2/4-2-3-1/whatever it needs to be to win formation. She has so many options throughout but for the most part the XI is solidified and deadly to any opponent.

It is worth mentioning that Benfica’s pitch was ludicrously wide. Hayes snatched on to that and the tactical promise it presented early. The Blues nearly exclusively attacked down the flanks, using full advantage of the insanely wide pitch. Fran Kirby latched on to a low cross early for a simple tap in.

It hardly improved for Benfica from there. A looping free kick found Millie Bright at the far post for the second. Just minutes later, another low cross through the box found Kirby who deftly guided it into the bottom left corner for the third. Pernille Harder piled it on before halftime with the fourth.

The second half played out like a friendly. Four away goals is practically insurmountable. Beth England, after nearly getting a few of the goals in the first half herself, finally got the fifth by latching on to a ball in behind. A red card for Benfica shortly afterwards made the result final for all intents and purposes. For their credit, Benfica actually turned things on afterwards and had a flurry of attacks despite the player advantage for the Blues. Nothing came of it as the final result ended 5-0 in Chelsea’s favor with virtually no chance of that being overturned in the reverse fixture.

Not unlike the men’s Champions League, the women’s Champions League will take a few knockout rounds to really heat up and get packed with even teams. In the meantime, Chelsea women are doing what they do in the league: beating (often massively) the teams they should be beating no matter what. Next up is Brighton away in the Premier League and as things are going, the Blues will not be beat.

The only real concern is the lack of rotation overall, but it is hard to rotate when the side is winning 5-0 away from home in the Champions League. Brighton will not like their chances, nor will Benfica in the reverse fixture next week.