Emma Hayes claims Kadeisha Buchanan’s sending off in Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final loss to Barcelona was “the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions League history”.
Buchanan was shown a second yellow card by referee Iuliana Demetrescu after 59 minutes at Stamford Bridge as she was penalised for a foul on Patri Guijarro. The Canada defender appeared to initially win the ball before catching the back of Guijarro’s knee with her trailing leg.
The tie was poised at 1-1 before Buchanan’s dismissal after Aitana Bonmati’s first-half strike had cancelled out Erin Cuthbert’s goal from the first leg. Barcelona went on the secure their place in the final thanks to a Fridolina Rolfo penalty 15 minutes from time as they progressed 2-1 on aggregate.
“When you lose football matches and you’ve been beaten by the better team, 11 vs 11,” Hayes said. “They’re the best team in the world for a reason, They had a strong first half, the deflected goal puts them in a good position but in the second half I felt we were just coming on top and you could see the combination of the crowd and the players were driving us, they felt really confident.
“So when you get such a shocking refereeing decision there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s hard enough when…
