March 31 – Arsenal and Chelsea have made it two English clubs in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals. The last time two English teams reached this stage was in the 2017-18 season.
Chelsea came though a dramatic quarter final beating defending champions Lyon at Stamford Bridge on penalties after the tie was drawn 2-2 over the two legs.
Chelsea went into the match with a one-goal advantage from the first leg but Vanessa Gilles flicked a 77th-minute cornerpast Chelsea keeper Ann-Katrin Berger to take the match into extra time.
Lyon then went ahead through substitute Sara Dabritz when she drove a finish into the far corner after 110 minutes.
With the clock ticking down, Lauren James drove in the box and was brought down by Vicki Becho. VAR gave a penalty and Maren Mjelde stepped up under pressure to fire home the spot-kick and set up a shootout climax.
Chelsea’s hero was goalkeeper Berger who made two stunning saves from Lindsey Horan and Wendie Renard as the Londoners won the shoot out 4-3.
Arsenal reached the last four for the first time in 10 years after beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in their last-eight second leg on Wednesday, going through 2-1 on aggregate.
Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius scored in the first half at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal overturned a 1-0 deficit against the Women’s Bundesliga leaders to secure a last-four tie against VfL Wolfsburg, who beat PSG 2-1 on aggregate.
Barcelona cruised into the semis for the fifth straight year by routing Roma 5-1 for a 6-1 aggregate scoreline. Barca will now Chelsea.
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