Chelsea Women have defeated Bayern Munich and have progressed into the finals of the Women’s Champions League, becoming the first English club in 14 years to do so. The Blues have entered the final for the first time in their history, and face Barcelona in the finals, who also chase their first-ever Women’s Champions League crown.
Heading into the match after losing the first leg 1-2, the tie weighed in favour of the Germans. However, Chelsea did more than enough to put four past their opponents while Bayern could only manage one.
Samm Kerr set up Fran Kirby for a 10th-minute opener, which was followed by a response from Bayern Munich themselves, with Sarah Zadrazil scoring an absolute screamer. However, a relentless second-half performance from Chelsea saw them net two late goals, building on the two scored by Kirby and Ji in the first half.
‘I do think it’s a big moment for women’s football,’ Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes reflected.
‘We’ve always had to play second fiddle to the men in European football. I hope this might encourage more English teams to think about it.
‘I also just hope there were little girls sitting at home, 10-year-olds, building their own stories. I never had [female football] role models and I hope these girls now do.’
Chelsea head into the finals on May 16 as the favourites to lift the title, and it will be the first time in well over a decade that neither a German not a French team will lift the crown.
