CHELSEA star Melanie Leupolz was forced off with a nasty injury during her side’s dramatic Champions League quarter-final clash with Lyon this evening.
Leupolz’s face was severely bloodied after a clash with Danielle van de Donk.
The incident occurred during the 65th minute of the tense second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Play was allowed to continue after Leupolz and ex-Arsenal star Van de Donk collided, despite the Blues star clutching her head on the ground.
When the game was finally halted by the ball going out of play, Leupolz rolled over to reveal a significant amount of blood streaming from her face.
The German star required four minutes of treatment before the game could resume.
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And she was eventually replaced by Welsh international Sophie Ingle in the 71st minute.
One fan was left furious by the officials’ handling of the incident.
They wrote on Twitter: “Leupolz will remember this game after that!
“Nose absolutely streaming with blood & the ref reluctant to stop the game & telling her to get up! Been pulling this c**p the whole game!”
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Others winced at the amount of blood on Leupolz’s face.
One wrote: “Horror film jump scare when Leupolz lifted her head from the turf there.”
A second tweeted: “Holy lord Leupolz just got absolutely clattered in the face.”
Another added: “How did the referee take so long to pause the game?
“Leupolz down holding her head and is now bleeding like crazy from her nose.”
Chelsea went into the match leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium, courtesy of Guro Reiten’s goal.
They were pegged back on home soil this evening, however, with Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles levelling the tie for Lyon on 77 minutes.
When Sara Dabritz scored Lyon’s second 20 minutes into extra time, it looked for all the world that the French side would advance to the semi-finals.
But Maren Mjelde’s 128th minute penalty sent the tie to a penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger the hero as the Blues triumphed 4-3 on spot-kicks.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
