Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has outlined the challenge facing her side in the semi-final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League when they take on Barcelona for a place in the final.
The Blues have made the journey over to Spain for the first leg of the final four clash in Saturday’s early kick-off. They then host the same team in the second leg at Stamford Bridge a week later.
The tie is a repeat of the one that saw Chelsea exit the competition at the same stage last season. In what is the manager’s final season in charge of the club, winning the one title that has evaded her would be the perfect way to sign off.
Chelsea will be the underdogs for the game. Hayes has said that her team will need to ‘play with our heads’ if they are to cause an upset.
“You have to be in it to compete for it. We always knew we would have to face Barcelona at some stage,” she said. “We’re happy for it to be our turn in the semi-finals.
“We understand the team and the opponent. They are world-class with unbelievable players but, I’m not thinking about fairytales.
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“Barcelona are world champions on international level, European champions at club level. They are deserving of all the accolades they have achieved but it’s a football match.
“There are two legs. All our job has been is to get ourselves in a position to come here in the competition. We won’t do it [win] playing with our hearts, we have to play with our heads.”
Barca are the current holders of the Champions League, beating Wolfsburg 3-2 in the final last year to win the title for the second time. Along with French side Lyon, they have dominated European football for the last few years.
The fact that the likes of Chelsea are now able to compete with the Spanish giants shows how far the women’s game has come in the last few years, according to Hayes, despite a financial gap still remaining between the teams.
“I think Barcelona’s team will go down in history as one of the greatest women’s teams ever,” she added. “I always talk with such pride for what we’ve done because I think, when I came into this job, Chelsea were like ranked 150th in the world, something like that.
“I think we’re one of the top few teams in the world and we’ve built our team over a long period of time to get to this point. I think it’s been our team that’s built the coefficient for England and done well in the latter stages.
“I quote, I remember reading Jonas Eidevall saying this about Barcelona and Lyon, trust me, they’re budgets are significantly bigger than any English team. There is still a gap financially between Barcelona and Chelsea and Barcelona and Arsenal and City. I think we are doing really well to be in the position we are in.
“That’s why I think if our league keeps developing and we keep selling our stadiums and we keep generating revenue and we close the gap financially between the top two in Barcelona and Lyon, then I think we will see more English teams reach the latter stages of the competition.
“But also I think that Barcelona is a generation that deserves the credit they get, not just Barcelona but Spain. They’ve done amazing things on the pitch. So to be the only team to get a draw against them in four years, I take pride in that.
“I think people don’t realise how hard it is to play against them. Everything we have learned, we will try to put to our best use tomorrow.”
*You can watch the game on DAZN and you can register for free. The game will also be on DAZN Women’s Football YouTube channel, the Official Chelsea App and the Chelsea club website. PSG vs Lyon is also free to watch here.
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