FC Barcelona 1-1 Chelsea: Eindhoven, here we come!

It was quite some battle, but Barça have done it and they'll be appearing in yet another UEFA Women's Champions League Final, this time in Eindhoven. Thursday's game in front of a fabulous atmosphere at Spotify Camp Nou ended 1-1, but the 1-0 win in the first leg at Stamford Bridge means the Catalans advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Following a relatively uneventful first half, Barça moved into the driving seat when Caroline Graham Hensen, the player who had scored in London last week, opened the scoring with a fine finish. But Chelsea took just four minutes to strike back, and there were plenty of nerves in the final minutes and a huge sign of relief, and an immense outburst of joy, when the whistle finally blew. Barça are into the final!

Disallowed goal

Both sides attacked the game like there was no tomorrow, but after a frenetic opening few minutes with action at both ends, the blaugrana women gradually assumed the expected control of the possession.

Hansen looked to have given Barça the lead, but the referee had spotted that the Norwegian had handled the ball in the build-up.

Unrewarded pressure

Aitana and Hansen were the two most active players and shared the best chances of a first half that ended goalless. But there is little question which of the two sides most deserved to be ahead. Chelsea's defence was constantly being put to the test, and they could have gone a goal down moments before the break had Mariona been a little more fortunate with her shot.

Chelsea only ever seemed to be threatening from dead ball situations, and with so many attempts it only seemed inevitable that the home side would eventually find the met. And when it came, it was almost as inevitably the Aitana-Hansen pairing that produced it.

Drama to end

A fabulous counter attack by the former ended with the ball at the Norwegian's feet and her composed angled finish finally had the ball in the back of the net, despite the almost successful attempt by the Chelsea defence to block it on the line.

But that joy in the 63rd minute was short-lived. Just when they looked to be out of it, the English side were back in it when Reiten was on the rebound following a top save from Paños. Five minutes after Barça went ahead, it was back to all square.

But the goal from the first leg still split the sides. There was a lot of football to be played and much as the Barça women did all they could to ease the pressure with another goal, the ball just did not want to go in.

Not to worry, for with the stadium in full song, the minutes ticked down until it was all confirmed. Barça are through to another final!

MATCH STATS

Barça: Paños; Toorejón (Crnogorcevic 73'), Paredes, Mapi León, Rolfö; Walsh (Engen 60'), Guijarro, Aitana (Geyse 84'); Hansen. Oshoala (Paralluelo 60') i Mariona.

Chelsea: Berger; Perisset (Kaneryd 81'), Mjelde, Eriksson, Carter; Leupolz, Cuthbert, Reiten (James 76'); Charles, Fleming (Harder 76') i Kerr.

Goals: 1-0, Graham Hansen (min. 63); 1-1, Reiten (min. 68); 

Referee: Esther Staubli. Yellow cards for Reiten and Cuthbert (Chelsea).