Barcelona win first leg at Chelsea

An early goal from the Norwegian Caroline Hansen gave, this Saturday, the triumph (1-0), and the advantage, to the European runner-up Barcelona at home to Chelsea, in a game of the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League.

The move, just after four minutes, came out of the feet of the Norwegian international, who, in a dash from the right side, flexed to close to the corner of the penalty area and shot hard, with the ball entering next to the far post of the guard. Chelsea nets.

The closest that the Londoners were to scoring came from a shot by the also Norwegian Guro Reiten, half an hour into the game, which Lucy Bronze managed to block, while the Spanish were still close to scoring again, by Marta Torrejón, at 82.

For Barça, on an afternoon that leaves the team closer to the final and when the second leg is played next Thursday, the bad news is the departure of Bronze, the English defense of Portuguese descent, due to injury.

The side left injured in a knee, also raising the concerns of the England team in the year of the World Cup, when the team already has captain Leah Williamson and Beath Mead, both with ligament injuries.

In the women’s Champions, which they won in 2020/21 — beating Chelsea (4-0) -, Barcelona are looking to repeat the feat, when in this edition the title champions, Lyon, are out in the quarterfinals by “blues”.

The first game of the other semi-final is scheduled for Sunday, with German Wolfsburg, champions in 2014 and 2013, hosting Arsenal, champions in 2007.