Chelsea Women will try to stage an unlikely comeback when they welcome reigning European champions Barcelona Women to Stamford Bridge for Sunday's Women's Champions League semi-final second leg.
The visitors are on the brink of reaching a record-equalling fifth consecutive final after clinching a 4-1 victory in last Sunday's clash.
Match preview
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Chelsea's hopes of winning a quadruple in Sonia Bompastor's first season are hanging by a thread following the heavy first-leg defeat in Spain.
The Blues looked set to lose by just the one goal when Sandy Baltimore found the net in the 74th minute to halve Barcelona's two-goal lead.
However, Chelsea subsequently conceded two late goals, leaving them with a mountain to climb if they are to avoid a third consecutive semi-final exit at the hands of Barcelona.
They at least moved closer to winning a sixth successive Women's Super League title with a commanding 4-0 victory against 10-player Crystal Palace on Wednesday, with Catarina Macario netting a brace, alongside goals from Guro Reiten and Mia Fishel, to move the Blues six points clear at the top of the table with just three games left to play.
That result also represented Chelsea's 19th victory in 20 competitive home games this season, which could give them confidence ahead of Sunday's second leg against Barcelona.
The Blues may also take inspiration from the fact that they pulled off a comeback in last month's UWCL quarter-final tie against Man City, winning 3-0 in the second leg at Stamford Bridge to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the away leg.
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Barcelona will travel to the English capital in high spirits after they recorded a fifth consecutive victory in last Sunday's first leg at Estadi Johan Cruyff.
Alexia Putellas' saved penalty was quickly forgotten as Barcelona clinched a commanding 4-1 victory over Chelsea, courtesy of a Claudia Pina brace and goals from Ewa Pajor and Irene Paredes.
As a result, the Blaugrana have now scored at least four goals in 10 of their previous 13 competitive matches (W12, L1), including in four of their last five outings.
Barcelona enter the second leg with an impressive away record, having won each of their previous 17 competitive away matches, keeping clean sheets in 11 of those fixtures.
With that said, they experienced disappointment in their recent trip to England in October when they fell to a 2-0 defeat in their opening group game against Manchester City.
However, they have won on their last two visits to Stamford Bridge in the UWCL semi-finals, recording a 1-0 victory in the first leg in April 2023, before winning 2-0 in last season's second leg.
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Team News
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Chelsea are unable to call upon Sam Kerr, Lauren James, Kadiesha Buchanan, Zecira Musovic, Femke Liefting and Sophie Ingle.
Defender Nathalie Bjorn and midfielder Wieke Kaptein will have to be assessed after the pair sat out the midweek win over Palace.
After making several changes in midweek, Bompastor could recall Lucy Bronze, Erin Cuthbert, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Mayra Ramirez.
Meanwhile, the visitors are unable to call upon Portugal international Kika Nazareth, who sustained a season-ending ankle injury last month.
Barcelona have had a full week to prepare for the second leg, so Pere Romeu may decide to keep changes to a minimum for the trip to Stamford Bridge.
With that said, Pina is pushing for a starting role after coming off the bench to net a brace in last Sunday's first leg.
Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:
Hampton; Bronze, Girma, Bright, Charles; Cuthbert, Nusken; Rytting Kaneryd, Reiten, Baltimore; Ramirez
Barcelona Women possible starting lineup:
Coll; Battle, Paredes, Leon, Brugts; Bonmati, Guijarro, Putellas; Graham Hansen, Pina, Pajor
We say: Chelsea Women 2-2 Barcelona Women
Chelsea have not lost any of their 20 competitive home games under Bompastor, and while we think that they will maintain that record, we believe that they will be held to a draw by a Barcelona side that are usually a tough team to stop in the final third.
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