Arsenal have made history once again, selling out Emirates Stadium for the first time in their history.

Monday’s Champions League semifinal will not be the first time the women’s team has played at Emirates this season, with the club having made a vow to play at least six matches at the venue this season. But it is the first time Arsenal have sold all of the 60,704 available tickets.

And fans are in for an exciting match, with the club playing the second leg of its Champions League semifinal against VfL Wolfsburg. The two teams are tied 2-2 after the first leg.

“‘Exciting’ doesn’t do it justice,” Arsenal and England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy said when asked about the sellout. “A lot of hard work has gone into this. When you look at the future sustainability in the game for Arsenal Women as a club that’s what’s most exciting for me. I hope every Gooner there will be screaming their hearts out.”

Of course, they’ve sold many seats in the stadium before, having attracted a Women’s Super League record crowd of 47,367 for the north London derby in September when they played Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal have bought into marketing the women’s games, with the marketing team remaining as one rather than having a separate team for the women’s side. That has helped bolster a trend of increasing attendance in the WSL in the wake of England’s Euros win.

It’s a step in the right direction for the club. Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham has said that he hopes to see the women’s team play all their matches at Emirates down the road. And with the club now selling out the stadium, that seems more and more likely.

“I don’t see this as an end-point for it. For me this has always been the natural progression that we were going to get here [selling out], whether it was this game or not,” manager Jonas Eidevall said. “I hope when we look back on the day tomorrow, in history, that we can see that was a starting point — to make this a regular occurrence.”

Alexia Putellas has been named to Barcelona’s roster for the second leg of their Champions League semifinal against Chelsea at home on Thursday. The announcement comes on the same day Putellas was medically cleared to return to play after tearing her ACL last July.

Barcelona took the first leg of the semifinal matchup, 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and will advance to the final with either a win or a draw.

Putellas hasn’t played since last summer, after tearing her ACL while playing for Spain ahead of the 2022 Women’s Euros.

The Spanish star has been training with the team for the last few weeks. A two-time Ballon d’Or and FIFA Best Player award winner, Putellas is a key player in Barcelona’s midfield, but head coach Jonatan Giraldez would not guarantee her return to game action on Thursday.

“We will not take any risks with Alexia,” said Giraldez in his pre-match press conference. “The priority tomorrow is to qualify for the final. As a coach, I will not take any risk if she is not 100 percent.”

Two days after Leah Williamson was ruled out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup with an ACL tear, England dealt with another injury scare on Saturday when Lucy Bronze went down in the 65th minute of Barcelona’s Champions League semifinal versus Chelsea.

Bronze clutched her knee and then hopped off the field, a concerning sight. But she returned to the pitch at the conclusion of the game, which Barcelona won 1-0, to shake hands with Chelsea players.

In his post-match comments, Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez said Bronze was “feeling much better.”

“Initially Lucy was a bit worried about her injury, she felt her pain in her knee, but now she’s feeling much better about it,” Giraldez said, per SkySports.

“She felt pain in the knee but I think she’s fine right now. I was talking to her immediately after the game. It was scary at first but right now I think she’s fine.”

Bronze, 31, has a long history of knee injuries and subsequent surgeries, resulting in lingering pain.

“I’ve just got to play through it,” Bronze said last year. “There are plenty of players who are having to play through pain in their career and I’m now one of them.”

England has seen multiple players go down with injury in the last year, dampening the squad’s World Cup prospects. Beth Mead’s World Cup chances are doubtful after the 27-year-old ruptured her ACL in November, while Millie Bright’s status is also up-in-the-air.

Barcelona jumped out to an early lead in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final and never let up in a 4-0 win over Chelsea.

Just seconds into the game, Barcelona capitalized on a failed Chelsea clearance that led to an own goal from Melanie Leupolz. Barcelona forward Lieke Martens’ initial shot hit off the crossbar, causing chaos in Chelsea’s box and eventually ricocheting off two Chelsea players and into the goal.

Only 13 minutes later, Barcelona struck again when Jenni Hermoso was taken down in the box, drawing a foul. Alexia Putellas converted the penalty kick to put Barcelona up 2-0 over Chelsea.

Barcelona, unyielding, continued to punish Chelsea’s defense, scoring again in the 21st minute. After a clever build-up play, Aitana Bonmati made a darting run into the box to beat her defender and slot the ball into the back of the net, giving Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 lead.

With Chelsea struggling to maintain possession, Barcelona continued to push on the attack.

In the 36th minute, Martens again picked apart Chelsea’s defense, beating her defender down the flank and setting up Caroline Graham Hansen, who punched in Barcelona’s fourth goal.

Chelsea started the second half with more possession, as Barcelona opted to sit back and absorb the Blues’ attacks. Despite getting numbers up, Chelsea couldn’t get organized enough to pose an offensive threat in the final third.

As a result, Barcelona managed to uphold their 4-0 first-half lead until the final whistle, securing the win.

The win gave Barcelona their first Women’s Champions League title in club history and capped a perfect season. Barcelona went undefeated in their 26 league games.

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, PSG and Barcelona both knew it all came down to Sunday’s match-up.

With a spot in the final on the line, both teams came out swinging.

It was Barcelona who struck first, though, with Lieke Martens putting away a gorgeous curled ball in the 8th minute to put her team up 1-0.

The Dutch winger added her name to the scoresheet again in the 31st minute, tapping in a well-placed cross from teammate Caroline Graham Hansen.

Less than five minutes later, PSG responded with a goal of their own. Marie-Antoinette Katoto punched in a loose ball off a PSG corner, cutting Barcelona’s lead in half.

PSG stayed competitive in the second half but failed to create any meaningful goalscoring opportunities to even the score with Barcelona.

With PSG at bay, Barcelona hung on to their narrow 2-1 lead, securing their place in the Champions League Final.

Barcelona will face off against Chelsea for the title on May 16.

Chelsea came into the second leg of the semifinal down 2-1, but a commanding four-goal performance on Sunday helped the Blues overwhelm Bayern and secure their spot in the Champions League final.

Scoring opened up in the 10th minute with a well-executed build-up play by Chelsea. Fran Kirby split the Bayern defenders with a perfectly timed run, giving her space to find the back of the net and put her side up 1-0.

Bayern responded in the 29th minute with a stunning goal from outside the box by Sarah Zadrazil to equalize.

Just before the end of the first half, Ji So-yun put Chelsea back out in front with a goal off a Blue’s set piece.

The next goal wouldn’t come until the 84th minute when Jess Carter’s free kick found the head of Pernille Harder, flicking the ball on frame.

Up 3-1, Chelsea’s job was far from over, as Bayern pressed well into the second half, keeping Chelsea on their toes.

It wasn’t until the 95th minute that Bayern’s fate was sealed. A Fran Kirby shot into an open goal put Chelsea up 4-1, securing their place in the final.

Chelsea will play Barcelona on May 16 in the club’s first-ever Champions League final.

MATCH INFO:

Bayern Munich vs Chelsea (Leg 1 of 2)

FC Bayern Campus Platz 1, Munich, Germany

Kickoff: April 25th, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. EST

Bayern Munich will host Chelsea for the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final. Here’s a look at how both teams got here. 

Out of the four semifinalists, Bayern arguably had the easiest opponent in the quarter-finals against Swedish side, FC Rosengård, which was certainly refreshing, given that last season, they were eliminated from the competition by eventual champions Olympique Lyonnais. 

In the first leg, Bayern dominated from the first whistle. Rosengård were set up in a very defensive formation, with hopes that they would be able to keep Bayern out and nick a goal on a counter-attack. However, they situated themselves too deep in their own half, and with Bayern controlling most of the possession, they had ample chances to score. 

The first goal came in the ninth minute from Linda Dallmann, who was left wide open to take the powerful shot. The second goal came about 10 minutes later from Klara Bühl. 

After half-time, Bayern finished it off in the 65th minute with a goal from Lineth Beerensteyn, making it 3-0.

From there on out, they defended well and ensured that Rosengård would not walk away with any away goals.

Going into the second leg, FC Rosengård were much more attacking-minded; they had to be given that they needed to score at least four goals to advance to the semis. However, the match simply became a formality when Bayern’s Lea Schüller scored the only goal of the match, giving Bayern complete control with the crucial away goal.

Going into the matchup against Bayern, Chelsea will already have experienced playing a German team, given that their quarter-final opponent was VfL Wolfsburg, who they beat 5-1 on aggregate. 

Wolfsburg are a team that have had Chelsea’s number in the past in this competition, so the English champions did have a lot to prove going into this tie. The first leg was smooth sailing at first for Chelsea, with Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder scoring in the 55th and 66th minute respectively, giving them a 2-0 lead. 

However, Wolfsburg pulled one back after Dominique Janssen scored a penalty, giving the German side an away goal. 

Going into the second leg with a 2-1 scoreline, tensions were high because of the tight margins. The first twenty minutes of the match was extremely back and forth, and it truly looked like it could be anyone’s game, with both sides getting chances. It was Chelsea who struck first, with Harder scoring a penalty in the 27th minute.

The goal definitely seemed to deflate any optimism that Wolfsburg had, and four minutes later, Chelsea struck again, with Kerr scoring the second.

Fran Kirby made it 3-0 in the 81st minute, ensuring that Chelsea would advance to the semi-finals.

This semi-final matchup will showcase how both teams can handle pressure. Both Bayern Munich and Chelsea have never gotten past the semi-finals in the Champions League. Neither can rely on experience anymore. Instead, it’ll be about who has more grit, determination, and the better tactics to beat the other. Either way, it should be a thriller. 

MATCH INFO: Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona (Leg 1 of 2), Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

Kickoff: April 25th, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. EST

Paris Saint-Germain will host Barcelona for the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final. Here’s how both teams got here.

PSG were drawn against Olympique Lyonnais in the quarter finals, who are widely considered the best team in the world. They’ve won seven Champions League titles and the last five in a row, becoming the team to beat in the competition. 

In the first leg, Lyon did what they do best: they won. A single penalty from Wendie Renard gave them the advantage going into the second leg, which looked to be headed in a similar direction after Catarina Macario scored in the 4th minute to give Lyon a two-goal aggregate advantage. 

However, PSG were able to answer back a mere 20 minutes later, with a fantastic goal from midfielder  Grace Geyoro, her first of the 202/21 Champions League campaign. 

After halftime, PSG continued to push in an effort to find a goal that would put them through to the next round on away goals. Lyon were quite sloppy in possession with misplaced passes, and it seemed like it’d only be a matter of time before PSG scored another. The needed goal came in the 61st minute, with Renard scoring an own goal in an attempt to cut off PSG’s Kadidiatou Diani’s cross into the box.

The goal gave Paris Saint-Germain the 2-1 lead, and they held on until the final whistle. With the final score being 2-2 on aggregate, the Parisians advanced on away goals to the semi-finals, ending Lyon’s five-year streak as European champions.

PSG’s opponents in the semi-finals, Barcelona, knocked out English powerhouse Manchester City with a final score of 4-2 on aggregate, in what may have been the biggest surprise of the quarter finals. 

Barcelona comfortably beat Man City 3-0 in the first leg, with the first goal coming off a smart finish from Asisat Oshoala in the 35th minute. Going into half-time at 1-0, the match was far from over, but City struggled to contain Oshoala, and the striker won a penalty early in the second half that teammate Mariona Caldentey converted. 

Jennifer Hermoso scored Barca’s third after a shot hit the post, giving Man City the daunting task of needing to score at least four goals in the second leg in Manchester.

Things started off well for City in the second leg, with Janine Beckie scoring within the first twenty minutes. 

However, Oshoala once again continuously caused the home-side problems. She scored in the 59th minute, easing any pressure Barca was facing. 

Sam Mewis scored a penalty about ten minutes later, but of course, it wasn’t enough for the English side to qualify.

Both Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona faced tough opponents in the quarters, and both teams showed exactly why they deserve to be in the competition. 

Each club has made it to the final of the UWCL before, but have failed to get their hands on the coveted trophy. Now they have a chance to make the leap.

For PSG, they’ve already dispatched their domestic rivals. But losing in the semis would sour that achievement. For Barcelona, meanwhile, now is their chance to prove that they belong in the discussion of Europe’s best club. Fireworks should be expected.

It’s the end of an era for Olympique Lyonnais.

The seven-time champion was 31 games unbeaten in the Champions League until Sunday, when Paris Saint-Germain turned the tables and won the return leg of the semifinal 2-1. 

It was the home leg for Lyon as they entered up 1-0 from Paris. After just four minutes, American striker Catarina Macario put them ahead further with the first goal of the game. 

But PSG didn’t go quietly. 

Midfielder Grace Geyoro struck midway through the first half to begin the comeback for Les Feminines. 

The winner came from an own-goal by central defender Wendie Renard, who was the lone goal for Lyon in Paris. 

With the tie levelled at 2-2, PSG edged ahead on away goals to take the win. 

“I don’t think we realise what we’ve done yet. We played a great game collectively from start to finish,” Geyoro said. “We knew we had to come here and score two goals. And we did that. We never gave up.”

PSG, who have never won the women’s Champions League, will face Barcelona for a place in the final starting Sunday, April 25. Bayern Munich will play Chelsea in the other semifinal.