Ahead of their return to action this Saturday, when they host Aston Villa, a Chelsea trio were spotted in the Stamford Bridge stands on Thursday evening to watch Chelsea Women in action. Emma Hayes' side progressed to the Women's Champions League semi-finals after a dramatic night in west London which saw them knock out holders Lyon via a penalty shoot-out.
It was an extraordinary end to a thrilling two-legged affair as Chelsea were awarded a penalty in the final seconds of extra time, while trailing 2-1 on aggregate. Under huge pressure, Maren Mjelde stepped up to fire home the spot-kick and set up a shootout climax.
Amid all the drama and rage from the visitors, the hosts were able to compose themselves for the shootout, as goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger pulled off two excellent saves to deny Lindsey Horan and Wendie Renard and spark wild celebrations from the home faithful. Having won the first-leg 1-0 on French soil, the Blues were pegged back in normal time before going behind for the first time in the tie on 110 minutes.
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The comeback that followed will go down as one of the biggest victories in Chelsea's history as they join English rivals Arsenal in the semi-finals. The Blues will now need to produce another giant-killing in the next round after being drawn against Barcelona, who beat them 4-0 in the 2021 final.
Spotted enjoying the proceedings on Thursday were Blues manager Graham Potter, along with defenders Reece James and Marc Cucurella. The trio will be hoping to capture that same European knockout magic when they face their own Champions League quarter-final in the men's competition over the coming weeks.
Like the women's team, they have been faced with the daunting challenge of knocking out last year's holders in the form of Real Madrid. However, they have been shown that no matter how unlikely a victory may look, with Chelsea Women seconds away from being knocked out, there will always be the opportunity to punish their esteemed opponents with the backing of a packed-out Stamford Bridge crowd.
James was watching his sister Lauren lead the line for Chelsea, having signed from Manchester United in July 2021. The forward made 12 appearances for the Blues in their double-winning 2021/21 season, netting once in a 9-0 thumping against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, while her performances saw her nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award that same year.
The 21-year-old has also joined her brother as an England international, after the winger played an instrumental role in helping England to retain the Arnold Clark Cup earlier this year. Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman dubbed James as a "big, big talent" while teammate Lucy Bronze hailed her as the player "everybody has been talking about".
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