Last night at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea claimed a thrilling win over Lyon in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League.
Despite holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, the Blues couldn’t capitalize on it as Vanessa Gilles netted for the defending champions in the 77th minute, bringing the tie level.
The situation worsened for Chelsea in extra time when Sara Däbritz put Lyon ahead in the 110th minute.
With the minutes ticking away, it looked like Chelsea boss Emma Hayes would fail to win the Champions League for yet another season.
“In the dying seconds of the game, Lauren James was fouled in the box, causing a tense wait as VAR reviewed the incident before the referee awarded a penalty.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes could hardly bear to watch, but Maren Mjelde remained composed and converted the penalty, taking the match to a shoot-out.
Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger became the hero for Chelsea as she saved two penalties, including the final one from Lindsay Horan, securing a 4-3 shoot-out victory for her team.
However, the match was not short of drama as Melanie Leupolz was left covered in blood earlier in the game, following a collision with Lyon player Daniëlle van de Donk.”
What happened to Melanie Leupolz during Chelsea vs Lyon?
In the 64th minute, while both jumping for the ball, Van de Donk accidentally struck Leupolz in the face, leaving her covered in blood.
Following the incident, Leupolz, who had recently returned to football after giving birth to her first child, fell to the ground and held her face in pain.
Despite showing signs of a head injury, the referee did not stop the game immediately and only blew the whistle a minute later.
As Leupolz lifted her head, her face was seen covered in blood, and she protested to the referee for not stopping the match, while Hayes also expressed her dissatisfaction on the touchline.
Play was then halted for a considerable period as the Chelsea medical team treated Leupolz’s injury and stemmed the bleeding from her nose, before the match resumed.
Video: Watch Melanie Leupolz complain to referee after face injury
— Ronan Doyle (@Doyley23456) March 31, 2023
Melanie Leupolz’s brilliant response to horrible injury
Leupolz could fortunately see the funny side of her injury, posting a brilliant Instagram post on the incident afterwards.
“At least the colour of my nails are fitting,” she wrote, referring to her bright red nail varnish.
Chelsea is set to face Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League, a repeat of the 2021 final that saw the Blues suffer a 4-0 loss.
In the other semi-final, Arsenal will take on Wolfsburg, raising the possibility of an all-English final.
Melanie Leupolz everyone 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/NmBKUGcqYa
— Blue 💙 (@yourqueercousin) March 31, 2023