sport news Chelsea 0-2 Barcelona (1-2 agg): Blues dealt Champions League heartbreak as ... trends now
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The problem with playing the best team in the world over two legs is that you need to produce a perfect performance twice. Chelsea managed it in Barcelona, but were undone at Stamford Bridge. The small margins went against them.
A deflection which helped Aitana Bonmati level the tie in the first half. The crossbar and post, which saved Barcelona on multiple occasions. But most importantly, Chelsea were left rueing two controversial officiating decisions that swung the balance of this second leg in Barca's favour.
The first saw Kadeisha Buchanan wrongly sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour mark, leaving Chelsea to play with 10. The second saw Aitana Bonmati, who had brought Barca level on aggregate in the first half, win a questionable penalty - which Fridolina Rolfo converted.
It was not the Stamford Bridge swansong Emma Hayes deserved and there will be no fairytale ending in Bilbao next month. Chelsea may still win the Women's Super League title, but they could also finish the season without silverware.
Football is not always fair, and the way Chelsea lost this game felt unjust. Hayes appeared to utter the words 'I feel robbed' at full-time. To have pushed Barca so close will be of little comfort, but both Hayes and her players can be proud.
Aitana Bonmati was on target as Barcelona beat Chelsea to reach the Champions League final
Bonmati tucked home Barca's first goal of the night, levelling the semi-final, via a deflection
Fridolina Rolfo tucked home a controversial second half penalty to complete the turnaround
After inflicting a first home defeat in five years on the Catalans last week, Chelsea knew their opponents would throw everything at them in the opening stages of this second
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