Barbara’s Barca trip

CHELSEA board member Barbara Charone was in Barcelona rather than London yesterday, having chosen to attend the women’s Champions League semi-final first leg, which they won 1-0. This was only the third time she had missed a men’s game at Wembley in 40 years. Charone is a legendary music PR, who worked with Madness front man Suggs on Blue Day, the song released for Chelsea’s 1997 FA Cup triumph. Lyrics from that were written on a huge banner at Wembley created by the fan group We Are The Shed, which read: ‘Our blood is blue and we would leave you never.’

MAURICIO POCHETTINO sat on the fence when asked about FA Cup replays being scrapped, but he should not forget how valuable they have been for him personally. When Chelsea visited Aston Villa for their fourth round replay in February, Pochettino (right) was under pressure. That 3-1 victory bought him time.

ONE of the loudest cheers when the line-ups were read out was for Blues substitute Alfie Gilchrist. Of Chelsea’s six goals against Everton, nobody celebrated scoring more than Gilchrist, the academy graduate who recently signed a new contract.

WEMBLEY’S mixed zone, where players talk to the press, was a futile exercise as not a single Chelsea player took the chance to show some leadership by talking through a semi-final they ought to have won. Tactically, there could be no blaming Mauricio Pochettino as his set-up created more than enough chances. They simply weren’t taken by a side that repeatedly made a mess of good situations, including Ben Chilwell’s criminal decision not to pass to Raheem Sterling late on.

WITH five goals each, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Coventry’s Ellis Simms are the FA Cup’s top scorers who are still in the competition. Haaland never got the chance to add to his total here and remains way short of Biggleswade’s Jonathan Lacey on 10.