It had been a chance to jet-propel British women’s football into another stratosphere. It held out the prospect of a side within British shores becoming the first to claim the women’s and men’s Champions League trophies in the same season. But Chelsea were dealt a brutal footballing lesson last night in a devastating first half which delivered Barcelona and Spain a first European title.
Emma Hayes’ players were out-thought and out-muscled in 45 minutes of football which left them gasping for air, though the emphatic score-line owed something to the four clear chances which Danish striker Pernille Harder could not put away.