BARCELONA, Spain: Barcelona recovered from a missed penalty by Alexia Putellas to take a commanding 4-1 lead over Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.
Putellas had her penalty kick saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in the 12th minute but the Catalan club rallied with a pair of goals by substitute Claudia Pina and one each from Ewa Pajor and Irene Paredes.
Sandy Baltimore scored for Chelsea.
“No winning scoreline is enough,” Barcelona coach Pere Romeu said. “There’s huge evidence in soccer that you can’t ever rely on a first-leg lead. We are going to have a beautiful battle over there at Stamford Bridge.”
Chelsea will host the return semifinal leg next Sunday and the winner on aggregate will advance to the final in Lisbon next month.
It was the eighth straight win for defending champion Barcelona in the European women’s competition. It has scored 40 goals across those eight consecutive wins since losing 2-0 to Manchester City.
Barcelona and Chelsea are meeting in the last four for the third consecutive season. Barcelona has advanced each time.
“I still believe in my team and my players, 100 percent,” Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor said. “It’ll be difficult, but the main goal is to score early in the return leg. In football everything is possible, so let’s try to win the game and, if we score early, maybe we can put Barcelona under pressure.”
Pajor opened the scoring in the 35th and Pina added to the lead in the 70th, not long after entering the match.
Baltimore pulled the visitors closer four minutes later, but Paredes gave Barcelona a two-goal lead again in the 82nd.
Pina added a fourth in the 90th at the Johan Cruyff stadium.
“When I’m on the bench, we’ve already spent a whole week analyzing a rival like Chelsea,” Pina said. “You have lots of ideas in your head. When the game goes on, you progress those ideas and look at where your teammates are already creating gaps in the opponents’ defense.”
In the other semifinal series, Lyon weathered a second-half rally by Arsenal to claim a 2-1 away win on Saturday, putting the record eight-time champions on course for another Women’s Champions League title match.
