Chelsea cruised into the semi-finals of the women’s Champions League on Wednesday after brushing aside Wolfsburg 3-0 to make the last four 5-1 on aggregate. They were joined by Spanish side Barcelona who despite losing 2-1 to Manchester City in the second leg advanced thanks to their 3-0 victory in the first leg.
The Blues were scintillating form as they cruised into the last eight.
Pernille Harder gave Chelsea the lead against her former team in Budapest – where both legs were played – with a 27th-minute penalty and four minutes later Sam Kerr effectively put the tie out of the Germans’ reach.
Fran Kirby made it a perfect afternoon for the Blues with nine minutes left, completing an impressive display against last year’s finalists.
In the second quarter-final, Manchester City had a mountain to climb after the heavy first-leg loss but made a good start to proceedings in Janine Beckie gave them the lead in the 20th minute.
However, the Citizens were always going to be up against it trying to stop the free-scoring Barcelona from netting an away goal that would all but kill the tie.
And their worst fears came true in the 59th minute when Asisat Oshashola netted for Barcelona to kill any hopes of a City comeback.
City restored their lead on the night nine minutes later when Sam Mewis converted from the penalty spot but it proved to be too little, too late as Barcelona sealed a 2-4 aggregate success.
On Thursday Bayern Munich will aim to protect a 3-0 lead of their own against Rosengard in Malmo, with Chelsea awaiting them in the last four should they succeed as expected.
The remaining last eight fixture, an all-French clash between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, will be played on April 18 after a wave of Covid-19 cases at Lyon forced the fixture to be postponed.
European champions Lyon lead PSG by a single goal as they attempt to claim the top prize in European women’s football for a sixth straight year.
With AFP inputs
