Magic Barcelona expose shortcomings at Chelsea

Long before even half time, it was apparent that the only comeback at Stamford Bridge was going to be the return of Barcelona to the Women’s Champions League final again.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Chelsea Kaptein (90+1) 1

Barcelona Bonmati (25), Pajor (41), Pina (43), Paralluelo (90) 4

Chelsea just couldn’t get close, in scoreline, in performance, or even in terms of basic space.

Much of the game seemed to be the excellent Aitana Bonmati just gliding around the pitch unbothered, free to do with the ball what she wanted. And that was often something exquisite, such as when she hammered the brilliant first goal into the corner to set things off.

The 4-1 scoreline of the first leg was repeated, to make it a chastening 8-2 on aggregate. There’s actually a lot to take from that, despite the game quickly evolving into a non-event as a contest.

No one in football can really replicate what Barcelona do. This is the outstanding team of the age, now fittingly on the brink of the European gold-standard feat of three Champions Leagues in a row, to potentially make it five in six years.

And who would currently rule out Barcelona matching the record of five in a row. The persistent return of such clubs does point to wider issues, too. For all the burgeoning popularity of the women’s game – witnessed in the 26,702 crowd at a gloriously sunny Stamford Bridge – as well as England’s very status as European champions, they haven’t been able to translate that into success at European club level. Chelsea are still the only English club to reach a final in 19 years, and that was when they were also eviscerated 4-0 by Barcelona in 2021.

Some of that is just down to fact the Catalans are one of the game’s superclubs. It is very difficult for anyone to reach that level.

There are two elements within that, however, that both Chelsea and English football could do with thinking about much more. They are all the more pertinent since so much of this match reflected an issue that arose in the 2023 World Cup, and is going to be a theme of the summer.