Blues Ladies held Swedish team Tyreso FF to a creditable goalless draw in the UEFA Women’s Champions League Semi Final first leg. The Swedes started as favourites but couldn’t break down a determined Blues side that could have even nicked it at the end.

To give an idea of how good the Swedish side was, their number 10 Marta has been voted World Player of the Year five times consecutively between 2006 and 2010 and in the last ten years has never been out of the top three. In many ways, this was as if the Blues men’s side was up against the might of Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

Karen Carney and Marta – pic courtesy Neil Genge

Yet for all their obvious technical ability the Swedes seemed to suffer the need to try to walk the ball int o the net – a tactic which allowed the dogged Aoife Mannion and Kerys Harrop to make last-minute blocks and last-ditch tackles to keep their opponents out. Rebecca Spencer really only had to make saves from long range efforts but she too was up to the task, tipping round the post what would have been a screamer of a free kick from Marta.

Jo Potter striking the ball – pic courtesy Neil Genge

Up front Blues struggled to make an impression in the first half with Kirsty Linnett plowing a lonely furrow in a lone striker role but the second half saw Jo Moore and Jade Potter pushed further up and Blues started to get real possession in the Tyreso half; Moore was unlucky to see her 25 yard effort go inches wide and Carney twice almost slipped the ball through for Linnett to be one on one with the keeper only for a lunging defender to make a crucial interception.

As the game progressed it stretched and Blues showed their fitness as they kept pressing the Swedish side – who themselves were tiring after playing a very high tempo pressing game throughout and if any team was going to win it at the end, it should really have been Blues. Both Mel Lawley and Karen Carney who had struggled in the first half to make an impression were getting more joy going forwards and as they used the width of the pitch, switching sides when they could the Swedish fullbacks found themselves having to defend deeper.

The result means a win or a score draw in Sweden will see Blues through to the final itself in Lisbon against either Wolfsburg or Turbine Potsdam of Germany, who played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their semi final.

The second leg will be played next weekend in Sweden.

Blues XI: Spencer; Weston, Mannion, Harrop, Carter; Moore, Potter; Carney, Allen, Lawley; Linnett.

To see more images from the game please check out the flickr photostream of Neil Genge who has kindly allowed me to reproduce some on this site.

Tags: Aoife Mannion, Chelsea Weston, Jade Moore, Jo Potter, Karen Carney, Kerys Harrop, Kirsty Linnett, Mel Lawley, Rebecca Spencer, Remi Allen, Tyresö FF, UWCL