(Chelsea – Barcelona 0–2, 1–2 on aggregate) Caroline Graham Hansen (29) and Ingrid Syrstad Engen (25) will once again play in the Champions League final.
Saturday 27 April at 20:35
Chelsea were in the game for a long time, but in the second half they started to sabotage themselves.
Barcelona are ready for their fourth straight Champions League final.
– says Ingrid Byrøygard Kvernvolden
Graham Hansen and Syrstad Engen started the match for Barcelona, while Guro Reiten and Maren Mjelde had to watch Aitana Bonmatí excel from the bench for the home team.
Barely 25 minutes into the match, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner turned up delightfully outside the penalty area, before shooting with her right foot via Kadeisha Buchanan and into the far corner.
– It is the magician Aitana Bonmatí. The way she pulls aside, and that change of pace. It’s class, says football expert for NRK, Carl-Erik Torp.
The pain was to get worse for Buchanan in the second half, when she received her second yellow card for a late tackle in midfield, and thus a sending off.
– It can be defended. It’s clumsy anyway. You know you’ve just received your first yellow card, says Torp.
Just under twenty minutes before the end, Bonmati went to the ground after being felled by Jessica Carter.
Swedish Fridolina Rolfö was put in charge and was cold from the penalty mark.
With one less person on the pitch, Chelsea were unable to mount a proper final sprint. Barcelona is ready for the final in Bilbao on 25 May.
In the final, they meet the winner of Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, which will be played on Sunday. Lyon leads 3–2 after the first meeting.
Tags: Barcelona ready Champions League final winning Chelsea
