Women's Champions League: Can Chelsea avenge 2021 defeat against Barcelona?

"We will be back" was the vow from Chelsea players after they were thrashed 4-0 by Barcelona in the 2021 Women's Champions League final.

Almost two years on, they have a chance to fulfil that pledge and reach another final, although standing in their way is the same team who humiliated them back in 2021. So can Chelsea avenge that final defeat in their two-legged semi-final this season?

What happened when the sides last met?

Barcelona were rampant, taking the lead inside just 33 seconds and they were 4-0 up inside 36 minutes on an almost instantly forgettable night for Chelsea.

The first goal came through an unfortunate own goal for Melanie Leupolz, who was hit by an attempted clearance, before Alexia Putellas scored a penalty and then set up Aitana Bonmati for the third. Caroline Graham Hansen wrapped up the scoring for an utterly ruthless Barca side.

Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin said Chelsea "had been destroyed", while ex-England midfielder Izzy Christiansen said there had been "catalogues of errors defensively" for the Blues.

Emma Hayes' side produced a spirited display in the second half - but the winners were in cruise control by then.

The club's then-owner, Roman Abramovich, had flown to Gothenburg to be at the game and came to see the players in the dressing room after the match.

"The girls were very quick to tell him that we will be back here," said Hayes. "We'll work hard on the training pitch to make sure we do that.

"If I know this group well enough I know they mean those words and this is just another step in our journey.

"Some of the players haven't played in this arena before and it showed, but they'll improve with that experience."

What's happened to the clubs since then?

Chelsea successfully defended their Women's Super League title the following season but suffered more misery in Europe, exiting the Champions League in the group stage because of Wolfsburg and Juventus' head-to-head superiority.

Several experienced players arrived last summer, including Champions League winners Kadeisha Buchanan - a five-time recipient of the trophy with Lyon - and Eve Perisset.

Manager Lluis Cortes left treble-winning Barca after the 2021 final, and his successor and former assistant, Jonatan Giraldez, oversaw a perfect league season with 30 wins from 30 and a positive goal difference of 148 as well as claiming a domestic treble.

Unfortunately for Giraldez, they lost their final two games of their European campaign - 2-0 against Wolfsburg in a semi-final tie they won 5-3 on aggregate, before, in the final, succumbing 3-1 to Lyon to relinquish their crown.

World-record signing Keira Walsh and fellow Manchester City export Lucy Bronze have helped the Liga F holders soar 13 points clear this season with a perfect league record, conceding five goals in 25 games

How do you beat this Barca side?

Free-scoring Barcelona have won all five of their Champions League games at the Nou Camp during the past two seasons, scoring 24 goals and conceding just four.

A record crowd for a women's match of nearly 92,000 watched the home leg of Barca's semi-final last season, inspiring a 5-1 thrashing of Wolfsburg that made their second-leg defeat immaterial.

So Chelsea will surely need a positive result in the first leg at Stamford Bridge to take with them to the daunting Nou Camp for the second leg five days later.

Despite Barca's imperious domestic form which has seen them extend their unbeaten league run to 59 games, they have been fallible on the European stage this season.

Bayern knocked Barca out of their rhythm by netting twice in 10 minutes in a blistering opening as they won 3-1 in the group stages in December.

"It's very hard to beat Barcelona because they are currently the best team in the world," said Bayern's Lina Magull, the scorer of the first goal and player of the match in the German side's win.

"We knew we would have to defend extremely well and we wouldn't have many chances to score, so we were clinical."

Lyon also made a fast start in their triumph over Barca in last year's final, with Amandine Henry scoring a superb opener in the sixth minute, as the French side scored all three of their goals in the 3-1 win in the first 30 minutes.

England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain told ITV 4 at the time: "Lyon did exactly what Barcelona don't like. They pressed them high up the pitch and they didn't let them get into their rhythm."

Former England defender Anita Asante added: "Barcelona weren't really able to match up to that both physically and mentally."

So do those defeats give Chelsea hope?

"Lyon had to be absolutely perfect," former Leeds striker Lucy Ward told DAZN, signalling the level Chelsea will probably have to reach in this tie. "It was a monumental performance."

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