Key events
13 min: In the break in play for Rolfo to get some treatment Chelsea are in a huddle. It looks like a Chelsea player is having treatment too, though it’s not clear who it is. I’ll let you know when I do.
12 min: Barcelona have a corner as Eriksson sees it out from a Graham Hansen cross. Graham Hansen takes it, crossing to the edge of the box. It eventually comes in but Paredes’ header is over the bar. Rolfo is down injured from that corner piece.
11 min: Graham Hansen is electric! She crosses to Oshoala whose resulting shot is over the bar. Chelsea haven’t had a sniff since the first few minutes.
9 min: Oh my word, so close! Rolfo gets a great ball into Graham Hansen who finds the back of the net but it is ruled out due to handball. Eriksson caught napping there, she’ll need to be more switched on.
8 min: Oshoala gets in a good position again but her cross is to no-one once more. They are having the large majority of possession now. Graham Hansen can’t connect in the box and they clear, the hosts looking more dangerous. Barcelona have settled after the good start from Chelsea.
6 min: Barcelona take the momentum out of Chelsea’s sails and have retained possession in the midfield. Oshoala gets into the box but her cross is cleared.
4 min: Chelsea know they will need to get out the blocks firing and they are showing attacking intent, just a slight lack of being clinical at the moment. Carter throws in and Paredes misses the clearing kick but Panos collects.
2 min: Fleming crosses in early doors but Barca deal with it well. Cuthbert puts it back in but it’s behind for a goal kick.
Kick-off! Barcelona 0-0 (1-0 agg) Chelsea)
Here we go! Will Barcelona run away with this? Or can Chelsea shock the hosts? We will find out over the next 90 minutes!
The players are out and the crowd are raring to go here! Not long until kick-off now!
Jonathan Liew has written a feature on Arsenal’s first leg. They went 2-0 down to Wolfsburg but fought back to earn a draw, have a read of Jonathan’s assessment here:
Scott has got in touch on Twitter and said: “My heart says Chelsea can do it, albeit with a lot of luck. Head says it could get a bit City v Arsenal last night. Fingers crossed though!” I think Chelsea will need a bit of luck to down Barca!
Ahead of the clash at Camp Nou have a listen to our women’s football podcast which discusses Chelsea’s semi and the other last four battle. Arsenal and Wolfsburg are locked 2-2 heading into their second leg on Monday. Listen here:
Chelsea captain Magdalena Eriksson said today’s game is a full circle moment: “I’ve played in these kinds of games, many of them. It feels like another game I want to get through to reach that final,” she said. “I went to Camp Nou when I was 13 with my dad and we saw Chelsea v Barcelona playing. In that sense it feels really cool. That is the bigger picture. But the small picture is it’s just another game to get through to the final. We really enjoy these challenges. I was excited about the last game and I am for [Thursday]. I know we can do better too which gives me confidence. We know we will have to suffer.”
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes is aware of the battle ahead for her team: “Nobody denies they are a fabulous team with an amazing history, particularly here. We have to accept that we will suffer more against Barcelona than anyone else. But we showed in the previous game we can defend. We will have to do that at an even higher level and the execution from us with the football has to be better. It’s a football match. The game is 1-0. We have a fair and equal chance. This is a strength of our team. We are built to cope with the challenges. We like to suffer. We’re as prepared as we possibly can be.”
The crowds are ready for this one:
The goal that separates the two sides:
Here is a recap of the first leg ahead of tonight’s reverse fixture:
So how are you feeling ahead of this one? Any predictions? Any thoughts you want to share? Let me know via Twitter or email.
One star who will not be on the pitch today is Barcelona’s Lucy Bronze who has had knee surgery. Barca manager Jonatan Giráldez says Bronze will be out for a few weeks, read the full story:
The danger Alexia Putellas presents, she is on the bench for the first time in 10 months after suffering an ACL injury:
The teams
The team news is in! Barcelona make three changes to their starting 11 with Torrejón, Oshoala and Mariona coming in with Bronze, Paralluelo and Geyse out. Putellas is named on the bench.
Barcelona: Paños; Torrejón, Paredes, Mapi León, Rolfö; Guijarro, Walsh, Bonmati; Graham Hansen, Oshoala, Mariona
Subs: Coll, Codina, Jana, Pina, Crnogorčević, Putellas, Paralluelo, Geyse, Nuria, Engen, López.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have made only one change with Fleming coming in for Cankovic. James remains on the bench.
Chelsea: Berger; Perisset, Mjelde, Eriksson, Carter, Charles; Cuthbert, Leupolz, Fleming; Kerr, Reiten.
Subs: Musovic, Orman, Ingle, James, Rytting Kaneryd, Harder, Abdullina, Cankovic.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Barcelona and Chelsea’s second leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final. The hosts today have the upper hand after securing a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge and so Chelsea have a fight on their hands.
The task is even more difficult for the visitors with a 65,000 -strong crowd awaiting Chelsea at Camp Nou. Barcelona have also welcomed star player Alexia Putellas into the squad, though we will have to wait until the team news drops to see if she will start for the Spanish giants.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said she hoped having Putellas back in the team would add an extra 10,000 fans in the stands. And it seems supporters have been queuing up to buy their tickets to the game today after the news of Putellas’ return dropped, so the number at Camp Nou could rise.
It’s going to be a tense battle and if Chelsea manage to overcome Barcelona it will be an upset. Both sets of team news should be out shortly and so stay tuned ahead of kick-off at 5.45pm BST.
