‘Better team lost’: Emma Hayes says Chelsea had Barcelona panicking

Emma Hayes hugs her Chelsea players after their exit in Barcelona. ‘The gap is closing across Europe and today’s performance was evidence of that,’ she said. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA

Emma Hayes said she was proud of her players following their Champions League semi-final exit after a 1-1 draw with Barcelona at Camp Nou was not enough to overturn the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

“For us, we’re not going through because of the home tie,” said Hayes. “It’s very difficult to come here. If there was a little bit longer in the game, I think we would have gone on and won it. But I can’t ask for any more, I don’t know many teams that can come here and put them under pressure. They were panicking, you could hear it on the touchline. Even their manager got booked, they’re not used to that.”