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Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes says Barcelona must face Stamford Bridge sell-out if Blues are to progress in Champions League

Emma Hayes on packing out Stamford Bridge for the second leg of Chelsea's Women's Champions League semi-final with Barcelona: "It's essential. Our girls deserve to play in front of a full house to give ourselves the best possible chance. We will need the crowd." Emma Hayes said Chelsea must be cheered on by a sold-out Stamford Bridge to reac the Champions League final, while Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati labelled the Blues "dirty".

The Blues stunned their hosts in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Saturday, inflicting Barcelona's first home defeat in any competition since March 2019 courtesy of Erin Cuthbert's first-half winner. Chelsea have been eliminated by Barca in two of the last three seasons of the competition, most painfully the 2021 final where they were thrashed 4-0. With that in mind, Hayes said her side would need every advantage they could find in order to avoid defeat and finally get past the two-time winners at the third time of asking.

More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold for next Saturday's game which kicks off at 5.30pm, but Hayes called for fans to pack out Stamford Bridge, which holds just over 40,000, to get her side over the line.

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