Chelsea Women v Barcelona, UWCL semifinal first leg preview

On the back of a gritty win over Aston Villa on the road in the FA Cup semifinals, Chelsea turns its attention to the most feared side in European football.

This is where Emma Hayes envisioned her team would be at this stage of the campaign. 180 minutes against the seven-time Spanish top-flight champions for the right to play for the world’s most prestigious trophy in football. That is everything an ambitious club like Chelsea would ever want. Once the Champions League draw took place, it was evident CFC had the toughest path of any club to lifting its first European cup on June 3 at Philips Stadium in Eindhoven.

Defeating Lyon in the fashion the Blues did was incredibly historic for the club itself, but the job does not conclude there. Like Hayes’ side has done all campaign, this club needs to embrace that “next player up” mentality with a number of the team’s most talented pieces more than likely going to miss the first 90 minutes of the tie.

The 2020-21 European winners take on the same side they made light work of in Gothenburg. Hayes and the Blues went into that match as inexperienced as can be, allowing four goals in the first 36 minutes and never finding a way back into it. Only seven players from that team that reached the final are not currently on the roster. Having almost every player on the roster this season be able to recall that dreadful night will remind this club what it takes to defeat an opponent like Barca. Mistakes against a team as talented like the Spanish champions often lead to a goal at the other end.