Barcelona Femeni coach Lluis Cortes ahead of Champions League final: “The biggest mistake would be to believe that the game is won” | OneFootball

Barcelona Femeni face Chelsea Women tomorrow in the final of the Women’s Champions League. They last made it this far back in 2019, when they took a 4-1 beating at the hands of Lyon. Now they’re a different outfit, however, battle-hardened and ready.

Barcelona have won 26 out of 26 games in the Primera Iberdrola, scoring 128 goals and conceding just five. Their nearest challengers, Levante, are a remarkable 16 points behind them, and that’s with three games played more. Barcelona have five games left to play in the league despite having already sealed the title, as well as the semi-final of the Copa de la Reina to look forward to against Madrid on May 26th.

Their opponents this weekend, Chelsea, are no mugs themselves, however. Coached by Emma Hayes, a seminal figure in the women’s game, they won the Women’s Super League at the weekend after a 5-0 rout of Reading. They’re still in the FA Cup, too, set to face Everton in the fifth round on May 20th. They’re a formidable opponent, but Barcelona won’t be going into the game with a drop of fear.

Speaking pre-game in comments carried by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona coach Lluis Cortes was keen to stress that while his troops are confident, they’re not complacent. “Being confident is not being overconfident,” he said.

“There’s no excess of confidence in the dressing room. We’ve done things well and we’re proud of that, but we know the difficulty of the game and the great talent Chelsea have at their disposal. The biggest mistake would be to believe that the game is won. We have a chance, that’s obvious, but we must do many things well to win.”