EMMA HAYES was “gutted” to see Chelsea’s Champions League run end this term after Barcelona dashed their hopes of a treble.
Caroline Graham Hansen’s strike saw her side draw 1-1 with the battling Blues, sealing their 2-1 semi-final win on aggregate.
The visitors attempted to mount a fightback with Guro Reiten nabbing an equaliser in front of a crowd of over 72,000 at the Nou Camp.
But Graham Hansen’s goal was enough to end dreams of an all-English decider with Arsenal facing Wolfsburg in the second semi-final on Monday.
After the game Hayes said: “I can’t ask any more of our players. I said to them at the end we’re all proud to be Chelsea.
“I think the better team lost.
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“We grew into the game and you have to expect in front of 70,000 people (in the stadium) that by not conceding early you give yourself a chance to grow.
“We did that and we got more aggressive and we created chances. I’m absolutely gutted. It’s hard when you lose when you care.
“I can’t think of anything else but the defeat and how much it pains me because our dressing room delivered everything we could have asked.”
As expected of a side who have not lost at home since February 2018 Barcelona had the upper hand in attack early on.
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Some of their most threatening moments involved Aitana Bonmati and Graham Hansen.
Hansen saw an eighth-minute finish disallowed following a handball before Oshoala blazed the ball over the bar shortly after.
And Bonmati prompted a classy Ann-Katrin Berger save with her 15th-minute cross fizzing dangerously in front of goal.
The Barca forward was a handful with her dummy in the box teeing up Mariona Caldentey for a shot over the bar on the half hour mark.
Chelsea’s efforts in the final third were restricted in the first spell.
But they had a few promising forays forward towards the first half’s closing stages with Reiten’s low cross almost finding Sam Kerr.
The second spell saw Graham Hansen become the Blues’ nemesis yet again with her second goal against them in this term’s tournament.
The forward, who scored in the first leg, latched on to a well-timed Bonmati pass to put Barca 1-0 up in the 64th minute.
But Chelsea refused to buckle with Reiten burying an equaliser three minutes later to give Hayes’ side a glimmer of hope.
Later on Kerr saw a shot blocked before Berger parried away Salma Paralluelo’s strike with two minutes of normal time left.
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But Barca held out to book their place in the final for the third season in a row.
A clash with the Gunners or Wolfsburg awaits them in Eindhoven in June.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
