Chelsea humbled by Barcelona and Bonmatí in bruising WCL semi-final exit | OneFootball

They came in hope of witnessing the greatest comeback in ­Women’s Champions League history, to overturn Barcelona’s 4-1 first-leg lead. Instead, 26,702 people at Stamford Bridge saw another chastening defeat for Chelsea as the holders cruised through to their fifth consecu­tive final with an 8-2 aggregate victory that demonstrated the gulf in quality between the two teams.

The result emphatically ended Chelsea’s hopes of lifting a quadruple of major trophies, before a week when they could be crowned Women’s Super League champions, and kept this peerless Barcelona team on course to lift their third consecutive European title.

Knowing they needed to win the second leg by at least three goals to have any hope of progressing to the final on 24 May, after their heavy defeat in the first leg in Catalonia, Chelsea were hoping to score early to apply some pressure and offer their fans a chance to dream of a historic comeback, but instead they trailed 3-0 by half-time.

First, the Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí – who was orchestrating so much of the visitors’ stylish passing – raced clear down ­Chelsea’s left and had too much pace for Niamh Charles, running into the box ­unhindered before lashing a ­finish into the roof of the net at Hannah Hampton’s near post.

That goal came shortly after ­Chelsea had gone close twice in the space of a minute, first Sandy ­Baltimore scuffed a chance to shoot inside the box and then Sjoeke Nüsken’s close-range strike was saved by Cata Coll, but ­Bonmatí taught the English league leaders a lesson in ruthlessness.

If conceding the goal had deflated the home side, 18 minutes later they were looking forlorn, as Pere Romeu’s team turned on the style and killed off the contest. Ewa Pajor’s dart towards the six-yard box to slot home rounded off one of the best worked team moves in the competition this season, before Clàudia Pina provided one of the highest calibre individual strikes of the campaign when she curled a strike into the far corner. Pina, who had scored twice in the first leg, was showing the kind of top-level ­finishing that Chelsea were lacking.

By the second half, Chelsea were merely playing for pride, and went close when the substitute Catarina Macário rolled a low strike ­narrowly wide, while at the other end, a block from Charles prevented Vicky López from adding a fourth goal, after Hampton had saved the initial shot from Salma Paralluelo. The hosts went close with an 87th-minute chance for Lucy Bronze, whose far‑post header was palmed away.

Paralluelo compounded Chelsea’s misery in the closing stages when she capitalised on a mistake from Charles to score a fourth, before the home side secured the smallest of ­consolations through Wieke Kaptein’s good finish, which brought the home crowd to their feet. Maika Hamano also went close in stoppage time but nobody inside the ground had genuinely believed the comeback was on after the 25th minute.

It was the third season in a row in which Chelsea had been eliminated at the semi-final stage by Barcelona but this was the most humbling scoreline. Exactly one year ago, Chelsea had felt robbed by a refereeing ­decision. This time, Barça stole the show.

It was only the third time that Sonia Bompastor had tasted defeat as ­Chelsea manager and this one will hurt most. Trying to win the ­Champions League with Chelsea – a competition she has won as a player and a manager with Lyon – was the ­primary reason she was hired to ­succeed Emma Hayes. This was a harsh illustration of how far they are behind ­Barcelona, who pose a huge obstacle for Arsenal in the final.

Asked if her team had fallen short of their objective for the season – despite the fact Chelsea could still win a domestic treble – Bompastor said: “Yes, I’m not going to shy away from the ambitions of the club.

“That’s really easy for some managers, maybe not to assume the ­ambitions, but I want to assume them [the ambitions] because I’m really competitive, and I just think this club has everything to perform and to be able to make the quadruple.

“It didn’t happen this year and we are all sad and frustrated about it, but yes, we need now to reflect ‘how can we make it possible?’, but again, I think coming to Chelsea as a competitive person, I want to make sure we fight for every trophy possible.”

Header image: [Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA]