Chelsea vs Barcelona LIVE: Women’s Champions League team news and line-ups ahead of semi-final Stamford Bridge

Chelsea were brilliant last week, becoming the first team to beat Barcelona away from home in five years. A defensive masterclass stifled the holders, limiting the Spanish side to few chances, while an aggressive and intense approach disrupted the European champions and their midfield passing. Barcelona and their superstars were evidently rattled, with the Ballon d’Or holder Aitana Bonmati accusing Chelsea of “playing dirty” and causing “interruptions” in the game. Bonmati claimed Barcelona had warned the referee that Chelsea would look to slow play down, and yet they succeeded.

Such a reaction would have been music to Chelsea’s ears, evidence beyond the monumental scoreline that their approach had been a successful one. Hayes was quick to point out that the tie was only at half-time and insisted Chelsea could have had more. There was pride in celebrating Chelsea’s win at Barcelona, but Hayes was rather more regretful that Mayra Ramirez had not doubled Chelsea’s lead on the counter-attack after the hosts pushed further numbers forward in search of an equaliser.

And so to the arrival of Barcelona for the second time in as many seasons. Chelsea are prepared for a response after Barcelona were stunned, humbled and suffered their first defeat of the season in the first leg last week. Hayes’s side executed their defensive gameplan to perfection and Erin Cuthbert’s goal secured a famous win at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.

There is a score to settle: Barcelona have vowed to raise their game and there is revenge to claim, yet the European champions will be up against more than an organised defence and a disciplined unit, given the emotion of Hayes’s final weeks in charge.

The chance to finally win the Champions League heightens the narrative, in a clash that should have much more tension and edginess than last season’s semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge. Then, the occasion was not a contest and Chelsea’s passiveness as much as Barcelona’s dominance meant the fixture struggled to live up to its billing.

Chelsea can claim crowning Women’s Champions League victory in the house that Emma Hayes built

It was all in the plan, it seemed. As Chelsea took to Stamford Bridge for the first time under Emma Hayes, the club’s then-chairman Bruce Buck declared that, in one sense, the “mission has been accomplished”. There were under 4,000 in attendance as Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Wolfsburg, but the the historic occasion of Chelsea’s women’s team playing at Stamford Bridge was the encapsulation of Hayes’s vision. “Emma explained what she wanted to build here,” Buck wrote in the match programme seven years ago. “But I know Emma will not want the journey to end here.” Nor did it.

But now there is an end, of sorts, as Chelsea return to the house that Hayes built for the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. Hayes’s last match at Stamford Bridge could not have been scripted better: with a slender 1-0 lead to protect against the best team in the world, the opportunity to knock out the holders and reach the Bilbao final, and the biggest ever attendance for a women’s game at Stamford Bridge. The pursuit of a first Champions League title and the dream end to Hayes’s final season at Chelsea has led to the chance of a first sell-out in the club’s history.

As the ball fell to Alexia Putellas, four yards out and in the ninth minute of additional time at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, there was already enough evidence to show that this was a day for the unexpected. In any other game, Putellas would have scored and Barcelona would have found a way through – instead, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner skewed her shot and the Women’s Champions League holders suffered their first home defeat in five years. Even more remarkably, as Putellas sliced wide, a team who had scored 164 goals in all competitions this season were yet to land a shot on target.

Nor would they. Somehow, Chelsea and Emma Hayes produced the unthinkable. The English champions looked to survive and stay in the tie, but Erin Cuthbert’s goal and a first-ever victory against the all-conquering Barcelona ensures Chelsea will take a 1-0 lead back to Stamford Bridge for next week’s semi-final second leg. Avoid defeat there, and Hayes will end her 12-year Chelsea reign in Bilbao and with a final shot at the only trophy that has eluded her.

Chelsea captain Millie Bright is back in the squad after returning from a knee injury, but it would be a surprise to see her start. Chelsea are without long-term absentees Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel, but Maren Mjelde and Nathalie Bjon are likely to be involved.

Barcelona are without Mapi Leon while Lucy Bronze and Alexia Putellas started the first leg on the bench but could come into the line-up.

Chelsea: Hampton; Lawrence, Carter, Buchanan, Charles; Cuthbert, Leupolz; Rytting Kaneryd, Nusken, James; Ramirez

Barcelona: Cata Coll; Bronze, Paredes, Engen, Rolfo; Bonmati, Walsh, Patri; Graham Hansen, Paralluelo, Caldentey

When is Chelsea vs Barcelona?

The match will kick off at 5:30pm BST on Saturday 27 April at Stamford Bridge, London.

The English champions are aiming to win the Champions League for the first time in what is Hayes’s final season at the club, and they will progress to the Bilbao final on May 25 if they avoid defeat.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Women’s Champions League semi-final