This weekend brings the first legs of the Women’s Champions League semi-finals and I am particularly intrigued to see how my old club Chelsea approach their tie against Barcelona. This is the third encounter between the clubs in the space of four seasons and it will be interesting to see what Chelsea’s coaching staff have learned from those previous games – the 2021 final and 2023 semi-final, which both ended in defeat.
To draw on my recollections of playing in those matches, in 2021 we went into the final with a high press and the attitude that ‘we’re going to do our thing’. But we all know how that worked out – within 20 minutes we’d conceded three times and by half-time it was 4-0, which is how that final finished.
