Chelsea and Lyon became the first two clubs in this year's Women's Champions League to advance to the semi-finals after Wednesday's quarter-finals.
In the second match, Lyon crushed Benfica 4-1, winning 6-2 on aggregate over the Portuguese team. While Chelsea beat Ajax 3-0 in the first leg, they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge to progress to the semi-finals on aggregate. Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has decided to take her side to the second round in London as her club aim for the quadruple this season and as her side play Arsenal in the Women's League Cup final on Sunday.
Mayra Ramírez, the striker, put Chelsea ahead in the first half as the team struggled to establish their typical rhythm due to the absence of key players from the starting line-up. However, Chasity Grant's second-half goal put the Blues under pressure. Although both teams had opportunities to win the match, Chelsea's commanding superiority from the first leg was more than enough to advance to the next round. Blues manager Hayes said: "I think we should celebrate getting through to the semi-finals." “We love to win, we want to win, that's all we want. We want to be in the semi-finals, which is where we are now.
In other news, Lyon easily beat Benfica to progress to the semi-finals of the competition for the 13th time with another excellent display. The eight-time champion, who led 2:1 after the first match, did not let up and controlled the first half of Wednesday's contest despite the missed opportunities. Although France striker Delphine Cascarino would eventually lead Lyon, Benfica responded just before half-time to preserve their slim chances. Cascarino put Lyon back in front after the break and Kadidiatou Diani added two more goals in the final minutes to secure a crushing win. "There are several reasons to be satisfied. After the game, Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor expressed her pride in the players and fans."
"The performance after half-time was excellent, but the first half required more precision from us. Making the right decisions was a recurring theme; if we continued to do that, we could have caused Benfica more problems". We have to be on our guard all the time because nothing is given to us. In the semi-finals, Chelsea will face the winner of Barcelona and SK Brann, Lyon will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Swedish team Häcken. Later on Thursday, the last two quarter-final matches will be played.
