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Can Chelsea end their Barcelona hoodoo? League phase clash can give Blues a huge boost in…

When the draw for the first ever league phase of the Women's Champions League was made back in September, there were a lot of ties that caught the eye. From the repeat of last year's semi-final between eventual champions Arsenal and eight-time winners Lyon, to the return of Mary Earps to Old Trafford as her current side, Paris Saint-Germain, faced former club Manchester United, it was a draw that certainly did not disappoint. But no fixture drew the attention quite like that which will take place on Thursday at Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Barcelona.

These two have met plenty in recent years. After facing off in the Champions League final back in 2021, the pair have, quite incredibly, clashed in the semi-finals in three of the four seasons since. However, despite those regular meetings at the top level, it's hard to call it a rivalry because of how much Barca have dominated the head-to-head, losing just one of those seven matches.

Some Chelsea fans will have been dismayed by this draw, then. On the other hand, some will have been excited by the chance to have another go at the Catalans. What has unfolded since the fixtures were confirmed, too, will have given the Blues even more confidence going into this game, with there perhaps no better time for the champions of England to get another win over a team that has had their number unlike any other foe in recent years.

One-sided

On the face of it, the head-to-head between these two is insanely one-sided given how good this Chelsea team has been in the last five years especially. In seven meetings, Barcelona have emerged with five wins, one draw and one defeat, scoring 16 goals to the Blues' four. Sometimes, those sorts of numbers don't tell the full story and you have to look beyond them to find out more. Delve deeper, though, and it reflects even more positively on Barca.

In the last two seasons, when they've met in the semi-finals, Chelsea have had the perceived advantage of hosting the second leg of those ties. In the 2023-24 campaign, the Blues managed to emerge victorious in Catalunya, too, with a historic 1-0 scoreline giving them their first, and thus far only, win in this fixture. Yet, that never seems to bother Barca. Every time, they rise to the occasion and get the result they need, winning on all three of their visits to Stamford Bridge.

That they inflicted a whopping 8-2 aggregate defeat on the English champions last season felt particularly damning too, given this Chelsea team did not lose a domestic fixture all year and had spent the summer recruiting those with the knowledge of how to get over the line in the Champions League, most notably in head coach Sonia Bompastor, who guided Lyon to victory over Barca in the 2021-22 final.

Financial woes finally hit

So, why would this year be any different for Chelsea? Well, for a start, Barca's squad this season is as weak as it has been for a long time, relative to the high bar that has been set in Catalunya and when compared to other giants across Europe. That's a shame, too, because it is due to factors largely out of the control of the women's team, and certainly the players.

Barca's financial woes have been well-documented for some time on the men's side, where concerns around player registration and meeting Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are not new. However, the impact of that on the club has finally made its way to the women's team, with Barca able to call upon just 18 senior players at the start of the 2025-26 season. Compare that to Chelsea's 27, Bayern Munich's 24, Arsenal's 23, Lyon's 22 or even the 20 of Manchester United, who are making their debut in the Women's Champions League proper this term.

It must be said that, in terms of a starting XI, Barca arguably still have the very best in Europe, if not the world. Their 7-1 thrashing of Bayern to open up their Champions League campaign provided perfect evidence for that claim. But when it comes to depth, as they again look to challenge on four fronts, they're way off many of the continent's biggest clubs and, as such, their bench is nowhere near as stacked as usual. That has already made an unwanted impact, with Barca suffering their earliest Liga F defeat in 11 years last month.

Untimely injuries

The last thing Barca need, then, is injuries. Yet, coming into this clash with Chelsea, they're dealing with some key ones. Patri Guijarro, arguably the best holding midfielder on the planet, is out until the New Year with a stress fracture in her right foot; Salma Paralluelo, the exciting young forward, could also be sidelined until after the winter break due to a knee injury; while Ewa Pajor, who scored more than 50 goals for club and country last term, has only just returned from her own injury, though she marked her comeback with a brace against Real Madrid on Saturday.

We're talking about some of the best players in the world here, too, the kind which would be tough enough to replace even if Barca had a little more depth at their disposal. But they're having to rely more on younger players, who are talented but inexperienced in these big situations, in order to cope with these losses while also, at times, having to rejig the line-up to deploy players in unnatural and different positions. It's not the perfect situation, at all.

Perfect setting and situation

That will all be music to the ears of Chelsea. This is a huge opportunity for the Blues to get one over Barca given their personnel situation, but also because this is a one-legged affair, rather than the two-legged ties Barca have risen to the occasion in previously, and it's at home.

Of course, the Catalans have a great record away at Chelsea and they've beaten them in the only other one-legged match the two have played, in that 2020-21 Champions League final. But if the Blues could pick the perfect situation to play this match in it would absolutely be at home and it would be in a single match, given they have got results against Barca on their day before, but never across two legs.

Reversing the trend

To take advantage of all these factors falling in their favour would do wonders for Chelsea's confidence in this match-up. Given how frequently the two have met in the semi-finals over the last few years, it's absolutely something that cannot be ruled out from happening again this year and in the seasons to come. It's therefore important that the Blues claw back some of that psychological advantage that their opponents have in the head-to-head.

Chelsea might be the dominant force in England, they might be a winning machine that has won 13 of the last 18 domestic honours on offer and they might be a team stacked full of players who have won top titles, including the Champions League, but that doesn't mean they cannot be impacted by the one-sided nature of this fixture. If these two were to meet again in the knockout stages, the mindset in that Chelsea squad would be much more confident and positive if they could get one over the Catalans on Thursday.

Short- and long-term significance

There's a slight need for a result, too. After all, only the top four in the league phase table will progress automatically to the next round and Chelsea are at a disadvantage when compared to the other teams near the top of the standings, after surprisingly dropping points at Twente on matchday one. That was certainly perceived as one of the easier fixtures on the Blues' European schedule, with clashes with Italian giants Roma and two-time winners Wolfsburg to come in December.

They also come into this game with question marks over their performances of late having dropped points in back-to-back league matches for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. Drawing away at Arsenal wasn't overly concerning given the Gunners' strength, but following that up with another 1-1 scoreline on the road at winless Liverpool has set some alarm bells ringing in west London, especially since it has allowed Manchester City to open up a three-point gap at the top of the table as we approach the halfway point of the season.

Chelsea can put that all behind them, though, if they get a result against Barcelona that seriously boost to their chances of being in that league phase top four come the final matchday. And moreover, it could be huge in their quest to finally get their hands on that elusive Champions League trophy. Barca have been the team to squash that dream in four of the last five seasons, so if the Blues can get one over the Catalans here, even if the three-time winners are not in their best state, it is only going to enhance their belief in this finally being their year.

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