Chelsea’s mantra ahead of this game was that “nothing is impossible,” but it was never likely. The Blues crash out of the Champions League after a heavy home loss to Barcelona, extending their Sisyphean wait for a European title.
It marks three consecutive seasons that Chelsea have been knocked out at this stage by Barcelona, with this defeat the most convincing of the lot despite the Blues’ heavy investment in players and staff with European pedigree.
It was those players who shone. As the deficit grew to six and heads went down, it was Lucy Bronze, a two-time UWCL winner with Barcelona before moving to Chelsea last summer, who continued to battle. Keira Walsh, who made the same move in January, was similarly persistent, but their efforts were ultimately futile.
Coming into the tie trailing by three after suffering the heaviest loss of the season so far in the away leg, Chelsea had it all to do, and started with intent. They were quick out of the gates, creating plentiful chances but perennially an errant pass or mistaken touch away from finishing off a move.
For all of Chelsea’s attacking pressure, Barcelona never looked particularly worried, content to sit back and defend, enjoying a healthy lead. And then, the goals started to flow.
Bonmati opened Barcelona’s account for the day with a stunning solo effort, streaking down the right flank and skipping past Niamh Charles’ challenge before lashing an effort in at Hannah Hampton’s near post.
That effort put Barcelona four clear, but they were unrelenting.
Two more followed in quick succession before the break. Caroline Graham pulled one back to Ewa Pajor to double their lead on the day, before Claudia Pina, the Spaniard’s hat-trick hero of the first leg, added a gorgeous curling effort to make three.
Chelsea were dazed and desperate for the halftime break. The deficit now sat at six.
For Chelsea, the second half would be about defending their honour. Score a goal, give the supporters a reason to get out of their seats. But even that was too big an ask in the face of this Herculean Barcelona side, who introduced one of Europe’s biggest talents in Salma Paralluelo on the hour mark.
There were still flashes of class from Chelsea, but the second half was largely processional. Bronze went close with just a few minutes remaining in the 90, but her back-post header was well saved by Coll.
Barcelona let off the accelerator somewhat as the hosts pushed for their consolation, but it would not come. They did prevent further pain, though, as Hampton came up with some impressive stops and Charles arrived late to clear Paralluelo’s effort off the line.
Come the late stages, Chelsea’s fight was extinguished - Paralluelo’s 90th-minute tap-in added insult to injury, but would be immediately cancelled out by Wieke Kaptein’s late consolation.
Chelsea were well beaten and will now be asking: If not this season, then when? They seemed to have done everything right this campaign, but again fell short. The wait for a first Champions League title goes on.
