Chelsea boss Emma Hayes felt her staff deserved extra after a 1-1 draw towards Barcelona within the Nou Camp was not sufficient to ship them via to the Champions League remaining.
With Barca main 1-0 from the primary leg, Caroline Graham Hansen’s second aim of the tie proved sufficient regardless of Guro Reiten rapidly equalising on the night time and Chelsea pushing for extra.
Hayes stated on chelseafc.com: “I can’t ask any more of our players. I said to them at the end that they should all be proud to be Chelsea, because the better team lost tonight.
“Coming into the tie, with 72,000 fans here, we knew it wouldn’t be easy but, by not conceding early, we gave ourselves a chance to build. We grew into the game, we got more aggressive and we created some good chances.
“It wasn’t quite enough and I’m stood here now just absolutely gutted to be totally honest.”
Barcelona will tackle both Arsenal or Wolfsburg of their third-straight Champions League remaining having gained their solely title with a 4-0 success towards Chelsea in 2021.
Hayes’ facet confirmed they’ve grown in stature since then and the goal will likely be to maintain bettering as they bid to show home supremacy right into a continental title.
“I want more in terms of the result but I can’t ask for more in terms of effort and heart,” stated Hayes. “The girls gave everything and executed everything we asked for in terms of a game plan.
“There’s plenty of learnings we can take, especially from the first leg, but there’s also so many things to take heart from.
“It’s really gutting and we have to deal with the disappointment, learn from it and grow.”
Chelsea’s focus now returns to home issues and their bid to carry off Manchester United and win the league and cup double for a third-straight season.
