This Saturday, the Barça women's team has a second chance to give Montjuïc and the Blaugrana fans a European dream that does not end in a nightmare. After the elimination of Xavi Hernández's team at the hands of PSG, Jonatan Giráldez's team wants to give the fans a victory against Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
“We hope that people after what happened the other day have even more desire to be happy, that's what we want. We are looking forward to Saturday and a good atmosphere in Montjuïc. We have only played here once and we were not bad at it, I hope it can be repeated,” Mariona Caldentey asked at the gates of the European qualifying round.
Cata Coll also spoke along the same lines: “I think now they have to bet on us, we are here, fighting. We have impeccable fans and I know that they will not fail, that they will come," said the Balearic goalkeeper, who will experience her first European semi-final as FC Barcelona's starting goalkeeper, although she downplays its importance: "I'm calm, in the end it's just another game. It is true that you are risking going to a Champions League final, but I take it as just another game, calm and trying to enjoy every day."
Chelsea arrive at their worst moment of the season, after having fallen out of the FA Cup and the Conti Cup. The League and the Champions are their only objectives now, so they will go all out against the Blaugrana: “I'm sure they have desire for revenge,” said Mariona Caldentey. If anyone knows the blue team well, it is Keira Walsh: “When I played for City they were always our rival for the title, so facing them is always an extra motivation,” acknowledged the English soccer player. “This is the Champions League, so I think they will come with a different mentality, they will not be thinking about the lost games, but they may be more motivated. Obviously they have been left out of two titles and you already know what the Champions League is for them. Also, since the coach is leaving, they will surely want to get a good result,” explained Walsh.
Unlike last year, where Chelsea and FC Barcelona also met in the semi-finals, the second leg this time will be at Stamford Bridge, so "the objective is to get a good result in Montjuïc, with the support of the fans." acknowledged Salma Paralluelo, who believes that both “are super important parties.” “You have to be alive throughout the tie and the two games are going to be key,” she predicts.
Be that as it may, the team arrives plugged into the most decisive stretch of the season: “We are super excited, we have been thinking about this match all week and training hard,” said Salma Paralluelo, while for Cata Coll, despite the fact that “we are not It will not be easy”, they are “calm”. “We are clear about what we have to do to win, we have studied them very well.”
