The Uefa Women's Champions League quarter-finals are under way. Here the key storylines as the Bilbao final comes a step closer.
Benfica behind at Lyon
Halfway into their home leg against Lyon, it looked like the first-ever Portuguese quarter-finalists could cause an upset against a club equalling the Women's Champions League best of 15 appearances at this stage (as if they didn't already dominate the competition records). Andreia Faria made it 1-0 to Benfica on 43 minutes, and OL might have been getting flashbacks to a year ago, when they lost their first leg at home to Chelsea by the same scoreline and eventually exited on penalties.
Instead, Lyon repeated the 2-1 win they also achieved at Stamford Bridge after extra-time (albeit followed by a shoot-out reverse). Delphine Cascarino, with her first Lyon goal after returning from the injury that kept her out in six months, and the in-form Sara Däbritz turned the game for the team coached by Sonia Bompastor, the Portuguese half of whose family are Benfica fans.
Both Bompastor and opposite number Filipa Patão agreed Lyon's experience and cool heads made a big difference as the game wore on. It will take a sensational result for Benfica to prevent Lyon from advancing to a 13th semi-final (all since 2007/08) but in finishing ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt and holding Barcelona in the group stage, the Eagles showed they fear no one's reputation.
Chelsea in control
Ajax, having beaten Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern and Roma at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the group stage, had every right to fancy their chances when Chelsea visited. But the Blues, with away wins against Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon among others in the last couple of seasons, stood up to a Dutch record women's crowd of more than 35 000 and emerged with a 3-0 victory.
So Chelsea now look well-placed to keep up their perfect record in Women's Champions League quarter-finals with the defeat of Lyon last year their fourth success in this round. But Emma Hayes, in her last shot at winning this trophy with the Blues, is leaving nothing to chance and with the noise of the Ajax fans still ringing in her ears, told Uefa.com: "I want the crowd to come out and support us (next week), we have an amazing team and I want a bigger crowd than we have had in the Champions League ... so far."
A huge blow to Ajax in the opening leg was the absence of suspended captain Sherida Spitse; she will be back in London but missing the return will be Lily Yohannes, who became the first 16-year-old in a decade to play in a quarter-final but picked up a booking that rules her out on Thursday.
Brann's Barcelona mission
Brann held Lyon in the group stage on their way to making the quarter-finals in only their second European season and with less than 20 minutes to go it seemed as if Barcelona would also only manage a draw in Bergen. Salma Paralluelo had other ideas, her winner making her outright competition top scorer on six, and Barcelona moved a step closer to a sixth straight semi-final appearance.
Both of Barcelona's Norwegians had reason to enjoy the trip back to their homeland. Caroline Graham Hansen scored first, a fifth goal to add to her five assists in the Champions League this season. And Ingrid Engen brought up her 100th Barcelona appearance, a fine achievement for a player sometimes overshadowed by the club's many global stars but just as important.
Brann, who actually need to win the competition this season to have another European campaign in 2024/25, now have to cause a sensation, since Barcelona have not lost a competitive home game in more than five years. Goalkeeper Aurora Mikalsen, who frustrated the holders plenty in the first leg, still admitted to Uefa.com: "We needed to be brave on the ball, which I don't think we were today," while adding: "We didn't have much left – we'd given it our all."
Häcken's positives to take to Paris
Häcken proved their solidity as they knocked out Twente in qualifying and finished above Paris FC and Real Madrid in the group stage as well as drawing 0-0 at Chelsea. They nearly had another good result against a French capital side when Rosa Kafaji drew them level at home to Paris Saint-Germain, heading in after her initial penalty was saved but the visitors eked out a 2-1 victory as hard fought as Lyon or Barcelona's.
Kafaji only further boosted her reputation, the 20-year-old named Player of the Match despite the defeat as she orchestrated Häcken's attack, not to mention her goal. But then at the other end Tabitha Chawinga, scoring for her fifth straight game, earned the win, keeping up her record of getting crucial goals since her summer move from Inter to Paris, not lead away to Manchester United back in October in that tricky Round 2 tie.
Last season's narrow quarter-final loss to Wolfsburg prevented Paris making the semis four years in a row. But in Round 2 a year ago PSG beat Häcken 2-1 in a first leg (at home this time), then won 2-0, and a repeat would clearly do them just fine. Coach Jocelyn Prêcheur is also looking for a better performance, though, saying after the victory in Gothenburg: "Offensively, I'm a little disappointed – we can show a better side to ourselves, especially in our stadium in Paris."
San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao will stage the 2024 Women's Champions League final on Saturday 25 May.
The 50 000-plus capacity home of Bilbao's Athletic Club was built on the site of the old San Mamés, replacing the 100-year-old arena of the same name in 2013. Athletic Club women's team have played several games in the new stadium, attracting 48 121 fans for a 2019 cup tie against Atlético de Madrid, at the time a Spanish record.
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