"The spoils were shared at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and their Champions League torturers Barcelona, but it will be Sonia Bompastor's side that will be the more frustrated of the two. It was a battling performance from the home team and Ellie Carpenter's failure to add her second goal late on from close range will haunt them, as will the substitute Catarina Macario's narrowly offside effort that had both looked likely to give the Blues all three points."
"It is no secret that the Champions League is Chelsea's white whale. We all know there's one thing missing for us, Millie Bright told the Guardian the preceding week, the defender on the bench for this encounter, with Bompastor favouring a centre-back pairing of Naomi Girma and Nathalie Bjorn. Barcelona have been their perennial party poopers, delivering heartbreak in the final in 2021 before knocking the London side out in three back-to-back semi finals in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25."
"At a horrendously cold Stamford Bridge the opening 15 minutes followed a familiar narrative, the visiting team dominating possession and frustrating an unsettled Chelsea with their aggressive press. It was the Blues' goal against the run of play that triggered a more even encounter. The full-back Carpenter, playing in front of the right-back Lucy Bronze, collected the ball from Aggie Beever-Jones just inside the Barcelona half and raced towards the box unchallenged before she lashed ferociously past Cata Coll."
Chelsea and Barcelona played to a draw at Stamford Bridge, leaving Chelsea frustrated after late missed opportunities. Chelsea produced a battling performance and took the lead through Ellie Carpenter, who raced onto a pass from Aggie Beever-Jones and lashed a ferocious shot past Cata Coll. Late in the match Carpenter failed to convert a close-range chance and substitute Catarina Macario had a narrowly offside effort that would have won the game for the Blues. Barcelona dominated early possession with an aggressive press. Barcelona have repeatedly halted Chelsea's Champions League progress, including a 2021 final defeat and several semi-final eliminations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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