If Chelsea are to provide Emma Hayes the proper ship off with their first ever Champions League title they know they can not afford a poor sport in the present day in Barcelona.
With the Ladies’s Tremendous League on a knife edge, and defeat to Manchester United sending them out of the FA Cup, the Champions League gives the west Londoners presumably their finest path to silverware this season. However provided that they’ll get previous the Catalans over two legs, beginning in the present day.
How do you go about making an attempt to beat the defending champions? By not overthinking it, in keeping with their soon-to-be-departed supervisor.
“Barcelona have been the highest group in Europe lately,” Hayes mentioned. “Outcomes have recommended that, they’re world champions and European champions, however this can be a soccer match and there’s two legs.
“Our job is to get ourselves able the place we are able to come right here and provides them competitors.
“It’s a must to be in it to compete for it and you recognize that you simply’re going to face a group like Barcelona at some stage, and it occurs to be on the semi-finals.
“We perceive the group, we perceive the opponent, and we respect them. They’re world class and have unbelievable gamers.
“We’ve had a sport Wednesday and we’ve solely had the one coaching session in the present day [Friday] so we’re not overthinking or overanalysing something.”
Chelsea have by no means gained the Ladies’s Champions League with their finest efficiency being a closing look in 2021 when Barcelona thrashed them 4-0.
Arsenal are the one English membership to win the trophy, a distant 17 years in the past in 2007.
“We simply must maintain constructing on our experiences in Europe,” mentioned Hayes. “No participant wants motivation to play this sport.
“Subsequent week we get a bit extra time collectively on the grass to work on issues between the 2 video games, primarily based on the learnings.
“For this sport we have now to maintain doing the nice issues that we’ve been doing all through Europe this yr.”
Keep right here for all of the group information and motion with kick off set for 12.30.