LONDON (AP) — An early goal by Caroline Graham Hansen set up Barcelona’s 1-0 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal on Saturday.
Graham Hansen put Barcelona ahead just four minutes into the match at Stamford Bridge when the Norway forward cut in from the right and drilled a long-range shot into the top corner.
Substitute Marta Torrejón almost grabbed a second goal for the visitors when she headed off the post in the 82nd.
The other semifinal on Sunday has Arsenal at Wolfsburg.
The game was a rematch of the 2021 European final, when Barcelona routed Chelsea 4-0 to win its first continental title. Graham Hansen scored the fourth and final goal for Barcelona.
Her latest goal gave Barcelona 36 in this competition, more than the other semifinalists. It was Graham Hansen’s first goal in this competition after missing most of the season with a thigh injury.
“It was just one of these moments you get the ball, everything fits when you go for it and you know it’s going to be a goal,” Graham Hansen said.
“We deserved this result, Chelsea didn’t have too many good chances. It’s just a pity we didn’t come away with a couple of goals more.”
Instead of falling apart in the first half as in 2021, when Barcelona netted all four of its goals within the first 40 minutes, Chelsea held firm in defense despite never mounting much of a threat in attack.
With Barcelona apparently content to sit on its lead with the return leg at home, Chelsea came close to equalizing only on the half-hour mark. Barcelona needed defender Lucy Bronze to block a goal-bound shot by Guro Reiten after she was played through by Sam Kerr and rounded goalkeeper Sandra Paños.
Barcelona upped the pressure after halftime, though, and top playmaker Aitana Bonmati got more involved with touches in the midfield. After that, Chelsea rarely had the ball in Barcelona’s half and was fortunate to still be in the tie.
Chelsea reached the final four after surprising titleholder Lyon in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. It will need to pull off another upset on Thursday at Camp Nou.
“It’s 1-0, the tie’s not over,” Chelsea coach Emma Hayes said. “I remember it was completely over after 25 minutes (in the 2021 final) but they are the best footballing team in the world and I cannot ask for any more from the players today.”
Barcelona entered the tie on a run of 60 consecutive Spanish league wins, including all 25 games this season — its last domestic loss was in July 2021 — even though it can’t count on two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.
The midfielder has returned to team training after tearing her ACL last July. But she was not on the squad for Saturday’s game. After the final whistle, she congratulated her teammates for the victory that gives them a strong chance of returning to the final for a third straight year.
Torrejón had to replace Bronze, an England player, for an apparent leg injury midway through the second half.
Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez said Bronze “felt pain in the knee but I think she’s fine right now.”
The crowd of 27,697 was a record for a British game in the Women’s Champions League.