Chelsea take on the best in the house that Emma built

It was all in the plan, it seemed. As Chelsea took to Stamford Bridge for the first time under Emma Hayes, the club’s then chair Bruce Buck declared that, in one sense, the “mission has been accomplished”.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

There were under 4,000 in attendance as Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Wolfsburg, but the historic occasion of Chelsea’s women’s team playing at Stamford Bridge was the encapsulation of Hayes’s vision. “Emma explained what she wanted to build here,” Buck wrote in the match programme seven years ago. “But I know Emma will not want the journey to end here.” Nor did it.

But now there is an end, of sorts, as Chelsea return to the house that Hayes built for the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. Hayes’s last match at Stamford Bridge could not have been scripted better: with a slender 1-0 lead to protect against the best team in the world, the opportunity to knock out the holders and reach the Bilbao final, and the biggest-ever attendance for a women’s game at Stamford Bridge. The pursuit of a first Champions League title and the dream end to Hayes’s final season at Chelsea has led to, with a day to go, the chance of a first sellout in the club’s history.