At the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday there was a feeling of bewilderment.
Something happened that the Barcelona Femeni are not used to: they lost at home, in the first leg of the semi-final first leg of the Women’s Champions League against the English Chelsea.
“How do you feel about having done what no one has been able to do for five years?” » Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was invited by a local journalist to open her post-match press conference.
Barca Women had not suffered a home defeat since February 2019 (3-2 in a Spanish top-flight match against Sporting Huelva) and last time they failed to score in a A home match was in March 2018 – 1-0 against France. Lyon in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League.
That said, calling this a “home game” is slightly misleading, as Saturday’s game was the first at the Lluis Companys, where the Barcelona men’s team play their home games while the Camp Nou has been completely renovated – l The women’s team usually plays its matches at home. at the 6,000-capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff, part of the club’s training complex.
GO FURTHER
Special report: Barcelona Women – building a winning identity over 20 years
Hayes faced 19 teams in the Champions League during her eight years at Chelsea and Barcelona, who won last year’s final, were the only ones she did not beat. The victory gives his side a slight advantage for the second leg at Stamford Bridge this Saturday evening but, at 1-0, the tie is still open.
Barcelona will learn many lessons from this first leg.
Last week, Barca’s star midfielder Aitana Bonmati publicly complained about her lack of competition in Spain’s Liga F and praised the Women’s Super League, its English equivalent. What the reigning Ballon d’Or winner meant became clear as the match against Chelsea unfolded.
Hayes reacted superbly to the positioning of attackers Salma Paralluelo and Mariona Caldentey, closing them down with five defenders and nullifying Barca’s attacking play. It was as if Jonatan Giraldez’s team was facing a brick wall.
GO FURTHER
How Chelsea surprised Barcelona with a defensive masterclass
In recent years, this conquering Barça team has not been used to being put under pressure. They regularly beat their opponents in domestic matches and the gap between them and their rivals – even Real Madrid – is significant.
But in the Champions League, things were sometimes different.
This week, their former winger Lieke Martens told Catalan newspaper Ara that Barcelona partly lost the 2022 competition final to Lyon due to overconfidence.
Martens, now Lyon’s domestic rival and opponents in the other Champions League semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain, was confident they would win. The players even sang with their supporters from the balcony of their hotel in Turin before the final, as if they had already won.
🔥THE GREAT PLOT
🏩🎵 The players of @FCBfemeni they greet and sing with the displaced supporters at the Turin hotel#ChampionsTV3 #UWCLfinal
-Esport3 (@esport3) May 21, 2022
The result was a bitter pill to swallow for Barcelona: a 3-1 defeat, in which they were outplayed, conceding all three goals in the first 33 minutes.
Since then, they have focused on becoming mentally stronger – the coaches wanted to create a team that wouldn’t collapse when games got tough and could come from behind to win any game.
The staff, who not only carry out in-depth analyzes of Barcelona’s opponents, but are also aware of the weaknesses of their own team, decided to do this by organizing full matches in training, because they realized that Barça players would put more pressure on their teammates. than most other sides.
That work helped them return to the Champions League final last season, where they came from two goals down against Germany’s Wolfsburg to win 3-2.
It’s a big step forward, but the coaches continue to work on the psychological strength of the team. On Wednesday, they were pushed hard in a Liga F match against third-from-bottom Levante Las Planas, losing 2-1 inside 19 minutes before rallying to win 4-2.
They will need those qualities again in west London this weekend.
“On a mental level, we have worked a lot over the years; we are a stronger team in this aspect,” Giraldez said after the first leg. “I am confident we will go there to win the game – something we are used to.
“When you have to get into the match, sometimes you rush attacks. What is important is that, emotionally, the game plan continued until the final whistle.
Even though they have one of the best squads in Europe, Barcelona will need to place less emphasis on individual talent going into the second leg.
Last season they beat Chelsea 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final thanks to an inspired performance from Caroline Graham Hansen, who is having one of her best seasons. Hayes’ side took note and nullified the Norwegian’s threat in the first leg by staying tight on her, ensuring she couldn’t connect with Barca’s midfielders.
The hosts instead turned to Paralluelo, who became their go-to in attack. But the Spain international was erratic, slow to control the ball and couldn’t score – despite being the closest of all Barcelona players.
Chelsea focused on shutting down their hosts and hitting the counter – something Giraldez warned would be the case but couldn’t prevent from happening. The WSL team wasted time in the final minutes to maintain their lead – Bonmati called their playing style “dirty” – but it worked to close out the victory.
“If the referee allows them to go to the ground and waste time, we also have to learn to play like that,” Bonmati told Catalan broadcaster TV3.
And Giraldez also admitted his players should be mindful of Chelsea’s tactics at Stamford Bridge.
“They were very good defensively,” Giraldez said. “When you lose to an opponent like that, it’s partly thanks to them and partly thanks to us. Their plan worked very well and we will have to change things for the second leg.
As the players left the dressing room after the match looking disgruntled, fans who had first come to the Lluis Companys to see them chanted “Si, se puede” – “Yes, we can”.
Only time will tell if this is the case.
(Top photo: Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images)