Chelsea defender Jess Carter bemoaned her side's "lack of tactical awareness" as the Blues crashed out of the Women's Champions League semi-finals following a 2-0 second-leg loss, adding "you can't give the ball to Barcelona and expect to win".
Emma Hayes' side went into the clash with a 1-0 advantage courtesy of a masterclass performance away in Spain. Midfielder Erin Cuthbert's strike proved the difference in a match which marked Barcelona's first home defeat in five seasons.
Chelsea were dumped out of the semi-final stage last season by eventual winners Barcelona and despite a sold-out Stamford Bridge feeling confident after the domineering first-leg display from the Women's Super League champions, Hayes found herself apoplectic on the touchlines after dubious officiating decisions went against the hosts.
Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí restored parity in the first-half when her shot took a deflection off Buchanan. The centre‑back then picked up two very soft yellow cards to cut Chelsea down to 10 players on the hour. And official Iuliana Demetrescu awarded a questionable penalty 15 minutes later after Bonmati was brought down in the box. Fridolina Rolfo converted beyond Hannah Hampton to secure their comeback victory.
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Diatribe after the match centred on the questionable calls and their impact levied on the match, with Hayes censuring the decisions as “probably the worst decisions in Uefa Women’s Champions League history”.
But defender Carter, who won Player of the Match in the reverse fixture, refused to allow the official's performance absolve her side of responsibility for the defeat.
"You can’t give the ball back to Barcelona for 90 minutes and expect to win the game," Carter told the club website.
"For the possession they had, I think we had a few really big opportunities and against top teams whenever you get big opportunities, if you don’t take them you’re going to get a result like this. It’s just about staying disciplined over two legs against Barcelona. You can’t give them the opportunity to just do what they want the whole time."
Aitana Bonmati won the penalty which secured Barcelona passage to the Champions League final (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)The Lioness added: "The way we handled the first leg was excellent with the discipline and I think that’s what let us down on Saturday, and our lack of tactical awareness in terms of taking the fouls when we needed to.
"We kind of let them dictate the whole way through unfortunately and we didn’t punish them with our few chances. We’ve got to get better on the ball. You can’t expect to win the Champions League when you just give the ball back to Barcelona for 90 minutes, which is exactly what we did."
Saturday's loss means Chelsea's quadruple hopes to honour the soon-departing Hayes have now been shrunk to defending their league champions status after losing the League Cup to Arsenal and falling short against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final.
In her post-match assessment, Hayes voiced her disappointment with the manner in which their Champions League journey ended, adding that she “gutted for her players” and said they felt “robbed”.
Chelsea suffered a heartbreaking Champions League defeat (PA)Buchanan, already on a yellow for a soft foul earlier in the match, was shown a second yellow for a similarly inconspicuous offence. However, despite Hayes appealing for a video assistant referee check, rules dictate that officials are unable to look at the decision as it was not a straight red card.
On the decision, Hayes said: “That’s the hardest part, I’m stood there and looking at the fourth official and I said: ‘Surely that will be checked?’ and she says: ‘I can’t, it can’t on a yellow.'"
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Chelsea remain in the hunt for their only piece of silverware this season with a fifth league title on the trot up for grabs. The Blues have arguably one of their most fierce title race opponents in Manchester City, who sit three points clear of the Blues having played a game more.
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