Clinical Caroline Graham Hansen teaches valiant Chelsea a harsh lesson

T here was a moment, shortly before half-time, when Chelsea left wing-back Niamh Charles thought she had done it. ‘It’ being escaping from one-on-one duel with Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen at the umpteenth time of asking with the ball in her possession. Charles skated free of the forward, who scrambled to stay on her feet in front of the dugouts, with all the enthusiasm of a child that had just beaten their older sibling in a card game for the first time. Except it was a false alarm, the referee’s whistle halting Charles’ charge and pulling the ball back towards the spot where Graham Hansen was fouled by the England player.

As in the first leg of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final showdown with Barcelona, Charles’s flank quickly became the focal point of Barcelona’s attack, leaving Chelsea captain Magda Eriksson brutally exposed on the left-hand side of the back three. It was a familiar story. In the 2021 Champions League final, Barcelona left inexperienced full-backs Charles and Jess Carter in their wake as they scored four inside 36 minutes.

Two years later, in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea were a goal down inside four minutes. Graham Hansen was the architect, driving towards the edge of the box as Chelsea players stood off her, before unleashing a wicked left-footed strike into the far corner. In contrast to the final, a collapse was staved off, but the gulf in class between the two sides was more than evident.

At the Camp Nou, which began to heave from about 15 minutes in as fans filtered in for the early kick-off at the end of the working day, Graham Hansen was rampant and unsparing as she ravaged Chelsea’s left flank. The Norwegian forward would put the ball in the back of the net early