Chelsea 1-4 Barcelona (2-8 agg): Player ratings as Catalans stroll into Women's Champions League final

90min

·27 April 2025

Chelsea 1-4 Barcelona (2-8 agg): Player ratings as Catalans stroll into Women's Champions League final

One week after earning a 4-1 win in Catalonia, Barcelona romped to the same scoreline against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, securing an 8-2 aggregate triumph over their two Women's Champions League semi-final legs to book a spot in next month's showpiece fixture.

In the face of Chelsea's mounting talk about a historic turnaround, Barcelona boss Pere Romeu was not so quietly confident. "Tomorrow will be a beautiful day, for sure," he grinned. When you have a player like Aitana Bonmati in your team, that self-assurance is justified.

OneFootball Videos

The Blues had started enthusiastically, if a little haphazardly, as they tried to become the first team in Women's Champions League history to overturn a three-goal deficit in the knockout stages. Ironically, it was a rare slack touch from Bonmati which Sjoeke Nusken pounced upon before she was thwarted by Cata Coll. Yet, the back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner would soon underscore her lofty reputation.

In a run which began inside her own half, Bonmati hurdled Niamh Charles' lunge, accelerating into the penalty box from where she blasted the ball beyond Hannah Hampton before Millie Bright could sweep across.

Barcelona have not been as imperious as past iterations this season. Their unbeaten run in El Clasico came to an end last month and Manchester City proved that English opposition can get the better of the Catalans. Yet, the defending champions were almost unplayable at times on Sunday.

Sporting a Stabilo green strip, as though some had highlighted where all the excellence on the pitch was stored, Barcelona established a stranglehold of the game after Bonmati's opener. Ewa Pajor prodded in Caroline Graham Hansen's low drive across the box two minutes before Claudia Pina curled a sumptuous effort in off the post on the cusp of half time.

Pina's strike from the edge of the box was so precise, clanking off the upper edge of the upright, that Hampton didn't even muster a dive. The Chelsea goalkeeper twice denied Salma Paralluelo before the jet-heeled forward nabbed Barcelona's fourth in the 90th minute. That the visitors were able to bring Paralluelo - who would undoubtedly be a nailed-on starter for almost every club on the continent - off the bench, underscores their strength in depth.

Wieke Kaptein thumped in a 91st-minute consolation goal which wasn't so conciliatory, as Chelsea were condemned to their first home defeat of Sonia Bompastor's tenure.

The reigning back-to-back European champions will be up against one of Lyon or Arsenal in Lisbon next month, but if Barcelona get anywhere near the blinding level of quality which they reached in the first half at Stamford Bridge, no side will be able to live with them.