Chelsea hold Barcelona at Stamford Bridge for the first time | Carpenter and Girma lead historic UWCL draw

Published on 21 November 2025 at 18:17

For the first time, Chelsea have not lost to Barcelona at home; last time, their defence was poor, conceding four goals; this time, only one, with their second-choice goalkeeper.

 

It was also the highest attendance for a UWCL league fixture at the Bridge. This league phase means you can have big games like this early in the competition.

 

Sonia Bompastor is making dramatic changes to her lineup, dropping their captain, Millie Bright, after her slow performance at the weekend and lack of tracking back, which led to the Liverpool equalisers.

 

Chelsea started on the front foot through full-back Ellie Carpenter who put th blues ahead at home she unleashed a ferocious strike from the edge of the box into the far corner after 16 minutes, continuing Chelsea's theme of scoring in the first 15 minutes or so of a game.

 

But Barcelona responded well with an equaliser through the recently returned Ewa Pajor just eight minutes later after the hosts were unable to clear a corner with Pajor thumping a strike into the net from inside the six yard area.

 

This was after she got a goal disallowed for offside.

 

There was a power outage at Stamford Bridge which stopped the Disney stream and also the media TVs therefore the game had to be paused for this to occur which led to an extra nine minutes of stoppage time in the first half. This impacted all the streams and also the referees communication lines.

 

The only Chelsea sub made was Catarina Macario who thought she made an instant impact off the bench when she nodded in Erin Cuthbert free-kick at the back post, but her effort was ruled out for a marginal offside. 

 

This issue around this goal was the angle presented on tv and which has been sensationalised. The image they give is not helpful as it's not from the line of the defenders. It’s therefore impossible to know if she is on or off side if the image is not from the view of the linesperson. So it's pointless judging that image and it was still very close either way. 

 

Carptender nearly made it two to win late but after a cool one-two with Macario she blasted the ball marginally wide from close range.

 

Chelsea's defence was impactful and prevented Barcelona from creating any opportunities, learning from their mistakes of last season bringing four goals conceded to just one with their second choice keeper in goal.

 

USA centre-back Naomi Girma put in a monumental display, making several key blocks to keep Barcelona at bay in her best individual performance for Chelsea.

 

Sonia Bompastor spoke about the players having less chances against a top side and they therefore needed to be more clinical with the chances they had. That ruthlessness was lacking and cost them Wieke Kaptein also hit a post and Sandy Baltimore fired a shot straight at goalkeeper Cata Coll.

 

Chelsea were the better of the two sides especially at the start when they moved with intensity and confidence in and around the ball.

 

Though they did not use the pace of their attacking talent in Alyssa Thompson to the best of their ability which could have turned the game into a transitional one that could have caused the Catalans some issues.

Chelsea's press was effective too and although Barca's quality was too good on occasions, allowing them to escape it.

 

Chelsea continued to have chances but lacked the clinical edge in the second hal to get out of the 1-1 deadlock. 

 

Chelsea have often struggled to impose themselves on Barcelona, relying on counter-attacks and direct play to get at the Spanish side, but this was a game in which they went at their rivals and found some success.

 

I believe the cold and the sprinklers on in their training the night before at the Bridge impacted Barcelona, or maybe my friend's curse worked. 

 

They were unable to get past centre-back Naomi Girma, blocked a close-range effort from Graham Hansen and keeping Pajor under wraps for most of the match.

 

Barcelona have another level they can reach though they seemed to have not shown that in England.

 

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor speaking with BBC Sport:

"We were the better team tonight, we had a really good performance and created a lot of opportunities. We scored a great goal. I'm happy but frustrated because we could have won the game.

"Any time we play with this mindset and mentality, the players need to know how good we can be.

"We played against a strong opponent, everybody knows Barcelona's qualities. To be able to have this performance against them was really positive.

 

"If you want to be perfect you have to be clinical and that is something we are working on, we won't give up on that aspect.

"I helped them with different tactics from last season, so the game plan tonight was better than the one we did last season.

"The team needs to be proud of the performance today, but also take belief and confidence from this performance."

'A proud draw for Chelsea'

Chelsea captain Erin Cuthbert speaking with ESPN:

"Tonight it was about how we performed. Earlier this year we didn't put our best foot forward. Tonight is a performance to be proud of.

"It's a good draw. It's something to build on. The team worked tirelessly. Everybody worked in perfect synergy.

"You shouldn't need any motivation to play for Chelsea. Every single game is a game you want to win.

"We were obviously disappointed with the offside goal. The fact we're disappointed with not getting the win at home against Barcelona is a really good start for us. Two games left and we want to win both of them."

 

Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor told Disney +: “Today was an intense game and we don’t have many chances to score. It’s 1-1 and just one point but we are looking forward to the next two games.”

 

 


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