Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that her side will have to play a perfect game to have any chance of getting a result against Barcelona this afternoon.
The two sides meet at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final tie. The pair last met in the 2020/2021 final in Gothenburg, Sweden with Barcelona running out 4-0 winners.
Barcelona are arguably the favourites to win this season’s tournament therefore they will be very tough opponents for Chelsea over the two legs. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Hayes said that her side need to play the perfect game to have any chance of getting a result.
“It will be tough,” Hayes said. “We have to play a perfect game at both ends of the pitch to give ourselves the best possible chance.
“It’s a football match and you’ve got two teams competing. Yes, we have the advantage of being at home but we have as much possibility as we’ve ever had for qualifying for a final.
“My message to the players is to give absolutely everything that you can to doing that, knowing that a final is at stake. We are a team that are used to struggling, we know how to suffer and we are going to have to do that for a lot of the game but we have a dressing room that are motivated and are ready to perform.”
Going on to discuss how the two teams have evolved since their last meeting in the 2020/2021 final, Hayes said that the biggest difference is experience.
She said “I think every team evolves. Barca have improved in lots of ways; they’ve developed more experience, changed players and added different dimensions. Equally, I think we have more experience than two years’ ago.
“For us to be in semi-finals is something that we expect of ourselves. We’ve had a lot of winning in the last two years and we are as prepared as we can be for this match.”
Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final, first leg tie against Barcelona kicks-off at 12.30pm this afternoon.