Chelsea were hoping to exorcise all the demons we had acquired over the last few years. Instead, we managed to add a few more. We’re thus facing a three-goal deficit in this second leg of our UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal against Barcelona.

Last weekend’s first leg started off decently enough, and when Hannah Hampton saved a rather soft penalty that was awarded to the home side, we perhaps believed that something new was being written in the stars. And even after Barca took a 2-0 lead halfway through the second half, Sandy Baltimore’s goal to cut that deficit in half looked to set up a second leg where anything could’ve happened.

Alas, at 4-1, that hope is all but gone. The two goals conceded in the final ten minutes effectively decided the tie.

We’ve seen some historic nights at the Bridge, such as the men’s team overturning a two-goal deficit against Napoli in 2012, or this exact women’s team overturning a two-goal deficit against Manchester City just a few weeks ago.

But down three against the best team ever?

Do you believe in miracles?

Date / Time: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 14.00 BST; 9am EDT

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Tess Olofsson (on pitch); Tiago Martins (VAR)

Forecast: sunny and warm

On TV: TNT Sports 3 (UK); none (USA); elsewhere

Streaming: DAZN (UK/USA); YouTube (int’l) — should be free either way

Chelsea team news: Where do you even start to overturn a 4-1 deficit? By scoring the first goal.

“If we are able to score the first goal really early in the game, if we have the right mentality, we probably can turn things around. This is the belief we need to have going into that game and to just leave it all there on the pitch without having any regrets at the end.”

-Sonia Bompastor; source: UEFA

A well rotated Chelsea side took care of business against Crystal Palace midweek, with the added benefit of getting some minutes for Naomi Girma and Guro Reiten, who perhaps will thus be available from the start in this one. Defender Nathalie Björn picked up a knock in last week’s first leg, but is expected to be available as well. Mayra Ramírez, Erin Cuthbert, and Keira Walsh were all rested and will all need to be at their best if we have any hope of doing the impossible.

Barcelona team news: Barca did not have a game midweek, so they are full rested, fully focused, fully fit, and fully confident of finishing the job to reach their fifth consecutive Women’s Champions League final (and sixth in the last seven years).

“This week we’ve tried to analyse Chelsea’s second leg against Manchester City, as well as other games where they’ve been behind or in situations where they need to come back. We’ve made some changes and will approach the game as if it’s 0-0. We’re convinced of the game we should play tomorrow. We’ll go out and play our game with possession, try to create scoring chances, and be very united in defence.”

-Pere Romeu; source: UEFA

Previously: Whatever we did in that first leg, let’s do the exact opposite!