Barcelona 0-1 Chelsea: Erin Cuthbert strike puts Emma Hayes' side in charge of Women's Champions League semi-final

An impeccable, disciplined defensive display from Chelsea saw them deny Barcelona a single shot on target, in the process inflicting on the Catalan giants their first home defeat in five years as they ran out 1-0 winners in the first leg of their Women's Champions League semi-final.

Despite coming out of the blocks at 60mph, and dominating possession for the first half an hour, the home side were unable to break down and break through a rigid Chelsea back line.

For their part the away side, after absorbing all that pressure, were able to work their way into the match. Emma Hayes’ players began to take more risks and started to hassle Barcelona in their own half.

After winning possession on the byline, Sjoeke Nusken combined with Erin Cuthbert to dance through the opposition defence. The pair exchanged passes before the latter turned to create space and let rip past the diving Barcelona keeper.

Chelsea made it to the break with their lead intact and came out for the second half showing a steely determination.

Their fighting spirit only grew when Barcelona were awarded a penalty early in the half, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Defensively, Hayes' side grew stronger while creating even more opportunities at the other end of the pitch and the Londoners looked more likely to double their lead than Barcelona to get the equaliser.

The result means Barcelona will travel to London next weekend needing to win to stand a chance of defending their Champions League title.

Mere statistics cannot tell the whole story of any match, but they can certainly go some way to illustrating the extraordinary nature of what happened at the Estadi Johan Cruyff this afternoon:

In the Champions League this season Barcelona have scored an average of four goals a game; across all competitions they have scored an astonishing 164 goals. Today they were unable to manage even a single shot on target.

Perhaps the home side were themselves overconfident, a tad complacent, but the lion’s share of responsibility for the shut-out must go to the away side. Their defenders seriously stepped up but every one of Emma Hayes’s did their bit in denying Barcelona a sniff of goal. They ran themselves ragged for every one of the ninety minutes and more, giving the superstars not a second on the ball, and barely an inch of space. That is why they must surely go back to Stamford Bridge as favourites to advance to the final.

The accolade could have gone to any one of the Chelsea back three, each of whom stood their posts and played their part to perfection. Jess Carter it is who clinches it for a performance that on countless occasions throughout the match saw her in the most crucial spot on the pitch at the vital moment. It was Carter's interventions that frustrated Barcelona the most, ensuring what should have been whole chances were never more than halves. It was her positional work that forced players like Paralluelo and Graham Hansen to take more low odds, long range efforts than they would have cared to. Had it been a home match the crowd would have rung out with "she's here, she's there, she's every... where, Jess Carter."

BARCELONA: Coll 6; Paredes 6, Paralluelo 7, Mariona 6, Graham Hansen 6, Patri 7, Aitana 6, Rolfo 7, Walsh 6, Engen 7, Batlle 6; …Subs: Alexia 6, Bronze 6, Vicky 6

CHELSEA: Hampton 7; Lawrence 7, Carter 9, Buchanan 8, Charles 8; Leupolz 7, Cuthbert 8; Nusken 8, Kaneryd 7, James 7, Ramirez 8… Subs: Macario 7, Reiten 8

40' - Goal for Chelsea! Erin Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nusken exchange balls on the edge of the box, before the Chelsea captain turns and lets fly past the diving Barcelona keeper. Great passing work from Chelsea, brilliantly converted.

51' - Penalty for Barcelona! A ball into the box from Patricia Guijarro hits Kadeisha Buchanan on the arm. The referee had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick.

54' - Penalty ruled out! Caldentey is all ready to take it when referee Stephanie Frappart is asked to review the decision. After spending some time looking at the touchline screen she returns to the pitch signalling the spot kick has been ruled out for offside.

90'+10 - Chance for Barcelona! A free kick finds Lucy Bronze on the right who taps it back into middle for Alexia Putellas. Putellas just needs to find the target but she can't! That's surely game over.

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