Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona: Blues left to rue missed opportunity in Champions League draw

Chelsea, who have suffered so much at the expense of Barcelona in the past, might have normally celebrated their 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League.

But this was a missed opportunity.

Chelsea were the better side on the night, dominating most of the first half and creating many scoring opportunities.

They led for eight minutes and failed to clear a corner, allowing Ewa Pajor to pounce on the loose ball, canceling out Ellie Carpenter’s exquisite opener.

Australia’s Carpenter should also have scored the winning goal, but with 10 minutes left in the game he left behind a close-range finish and only the goalkeeper was beaten.

Perhaps it was at that moment that coach Sonia Bompastor realized that their chances of beating Barcelona had run out.

Substitute Catarina Macario also had a goal disallowed for marginal offside and when the full-time whistle blew, the Blues boss shook his head in disappointment as his side slipped to sixth in the league stage table, two points behind their Spanish rivals.

It was an impressive performance and a significant improvement on their 8-2 aggregate defeat to Barcelona in last season’s semi-final; But their lack of ruthlessness ultimately cost them dearly and did not give them the victory they desired.

“I think it was frustrating not to win the game, especially when you look at the statistics and the chances we had,” Bompastor said.

“We had the opportunity to win so I was disappointed but overall there were a lot of positives to take away.

“We know that we have to be cool in the Champions League and in important matches. We talked about this and my players are trying hard.

“I’m really pleased with the performance. Everyone worked hard and I think we can deliver performances like this when we play at this level.”