Page 6 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.16 2020-21

Chelsea have become the second English team to reach a European Final, and the first for
fourteen years, after they overcame a first leg deficit in their UEFA Women’s Champions
League semi final by beating Bayern Munich 4-1 at Kingsmeadow on Sunday, to complete a 5-3
victory on aggregate.
Chelsea were handed a pre-match boost with the return of key defender Magdalena
Eriksson, who had missed the first leg, and they got off to a great start as Fran Kirby exchanged
passes with Sam Kerr before slotting home to put them ahead, both in the match and on away
goals, inside the opening ten minutes.
Bayern responded strongly to the setback and it took a good block from Jess Carter to
keep out a goalbound shot from Lineth Beerensteyn but there was nothing they could do as
Sarah Zadrazil crashed home a 25-yard shot of the underside of the bar to bring the scores level
on the day, and restore their one-goal advantage overall.
Two minutes before half time, Chelsea got the goal they craved to tie everything up again.
Ji So-Yun has scored a number of crucial goals for the Blues over the years and she came up
trumps again, this time scoring with the rebound from a free kick after her initial shot had been
blocked.
The game remained in the balance throughout the second half until six minutes from
time, when a Carter free kick was headed in at the near post by Pernille Harder, to put Chelsea
in front on aggregate for the first time in the tie.
One goal would still be enough for Bayern at this stage though and they piled on
immense pressure in the final few minutes. Although not completely composed at times,
Chelsea held on as the ball was rained into their area and the sucker punch came five minutes
into injury time.
Chelsea were able to clear and, with Bayern goalkeeper Laura Benkarth up with her
attackers, Kirby picked up the ball and was able to run almost the length of the pitch and into
the empty net for her second goal on the day, and to spark wild celebrations over reaching the
Final for the very first time.
Chelsea’s opponents in the Final, in Gothenburg on Saturday 16th May, will be FC
Barcelona after they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in their second leg, and 3-2 on aggregate.
Dutch winger Lieke Martens was the heroine for Barcelona as she scored both goals
during the first half, putting them two ahead at one stage and although Marie-Antoinette
Katoto pulled one back for PSG ahead of half time, Barcelona saw the game out to reach the
Final for the second time in three years.
The UEFA Referees Committee has announced that Riem Hussein will referee the 2021
UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Chelsea and FC Barcelona. The match will be
played at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Sunday 16th May.
The 40-year-old German, an international referee since 2009, will be taking charge of
her first UEFA Women’s Champions League final after having been appointed as fourth official
for the 2017 final between Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain in Cardiff, Wales.
Hussein has officiated at two matches in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this
season - the Round of 16 first leg match between FC Rosengård and SKN St. Pölten, and the
Round of 32 first leg encounter between Juventus and Olympique Lyonnais.
She was also selected as a referee for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France and
UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 in the Netherlands, taking charge of three matches at each
tournament.
At the final in Gothenburg, Hussein will be assisted by Katrin Rafalski from Germany
and Austria’s Sara Telek. The fourth official is Katalin Kulcsár from Hungary. The video
assistant referee (VAR) role has been assigned to Germany’s Bastian Dankert, and he will be
accompanied by his compatriot Christian Dingert. The reserve assistant referee is Julia
Magnusson from Sweden.
Issue no. 16 - 6 May 2021 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk