Barcelona’s perfect start in the Women’s Champions League came to an end, but the Spanish side stayed atop the group on goal difference after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
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Chelsea took an early lead through Australian international Ellie Carpenter in the 16th minute, firing in from the edge of the area after a pass from Aggie Beever-Jones. Barcelona responded eight minutes later when Claudia Pina’s corner led to a scramble in the box, allowing Ewa Pajor to smash the ball past Livia Peng and level the score.
Despite Chelsea creating several chances, including a shot from Wieke Kaptein that hit the post and a disallowed goal for Catarina Macario, neither side could break the deadlock in the second half. Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said, “I think we were the better team tonight…we scored a great goal. I’m happy but frustrated because we could have won the game.”
The draw moves Chelsea up to sixth in the table, while Bayern Munich leapfrogged Paris St-Germain after a 3-1 victory in Paris. PSG captain Sakina Karchaoui gave her side an early lead, but goals from Linda Dallmann, Momoko Tanikawa, and a late strike from Jovana Damnjanovic sealed the win for the German side, leaving PSG bottom after their fourth consecutive defeat.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid climbed to eighth with a 4-0 win over Twente, courtesy of goals from Amaiur Sarriegi, Julia Bartel, Synne Jensen, and Fiamma. Roma earned their first point of the campaign, drawing 1-1 at Leuven after Evelyne Viens’ opener was cancelled out by Jada Conijnenberg’s 71st-minute penalty.
