Irene Paredes (second proper) celebrates along with her teammates after scoring Barcelona’s third objective.{Photograph}: Alberto Estévez/EPA
Barcelona maintain a commanding place of their Ladies’s Champions League semi-final in opposition to Chelsea forward of subsequent Sunday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge after demonstrating their high quality in an emphatic 4-1 first-leg victory.
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Chelsea are bidding to achieve the European closing for less than the second time and will nonetheless win a quadruple of main trophies this time period in Sonia Bompastor’s first season in cost, however they may now require an unlikely-looking comeback and the efficiency of their lives if they’re to have any likelihood of overturning this deficit in London.
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The scoreline might have been worse for Chelsea however for Hannah Hampton’s early penalty save, at a time when the tie was degree at 0-0, when the previous Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was denied from the spot. That saved the house facet at bay however not for lengthy, with Putellas classily slipping a by means of ball into the trail of Ewa Pajor for the Poland striker to open the scoring.
Chelsea improved defensively after the break however had been undone by a masterful staff objective as Barcelona made it 2-0 with a transfer that concerned 18 passes earlier than substitute Clàudia Pina turned in from contained in the six-yard field. Pina herself had performed the thirteenth move of Barcelona’s flowing transfer from deep inside her personal half earlier than sprinting upfield to show residence the cross.
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Sandy Baltimore’s crisp strike into the far nook with 16 minutes remaining supplied Bompastor’s staff a glimmer of hope to deliver the scoreline again to 2-1, however a far-post header from an unmarked Irene Paredes restored Barcelona’s two-goal benefit quickly after. Pina then struck once more from shut vary within the ninetieth minute to severely hamper Chelsea’s hopes for the second leg, and make the hosts’ benefit on the scoreboard extra precisely mirror their dominance.
The Norway winger Caroline Graham Hansen, who had been a doubt for this primary leg after lacking Saturday’s Barcelona coaching session due to sickness, was named amongst the beginning facet and started the sport impressively, giving the Chelsea left-back Baltimore a lot to consider within the early phases. Graham Hansen noticed a brief deflected huge, after the hosts’ holding midfielder Patricia Guijarro had seen a low effort deflected into the arms of Hampton, whereas Chelsea struggled to carry onto the ball lengthy sufficient to mount many significant assaults within the opening exchanges.
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Barcelona’s early stress finally led to a penalty when Nathalie Björn dealt with Paredes’s header and the Hungarian referee Katalin Kulcsár appropriately awarded the spot-kick after consulting with the display screen after a VAR examine. Putellas opted to ship her strike straight down the center and the England goalkeeper Hampton, who had dived barely to Putellas’ proper, made the save comfortably along with her toes.
That proved to be one of many solely moments of celebration for the travelling Chelsea followers and finally this was a sport which highlighted Barcelona’s superior ability as they look like on track to knock Chelsea out on the semi-final stage of this competitors for the third straight season.