The story of Ann Katrin Berger (Göppingen, Germany, 1990) goes beyond the lines of the pitch. Seven months ago, the Chelsea goalkeeper I was in a hospital bed fighting cancer. The second cancer of her. However, he never thought of hanging up his gloves and, against Lyon, he was the heroine blue who guided his team to the semifinal. Today they will face the almighty Barcelona (1:30 p.m.). Hayes’ men receive the Catalans without fear and with the resilience of a goalkeeper who no longer fears anything.
In 2017, when he was a member of Birmingham, he was diagnosed with his first thyroid cancer. The German fought against the disease while defending her team’s goal. Not even during the most severe part of the treatment did he give up football. He recovered and, in 2019, he landed in London to be part of a team that dreamed of winning everything. But then again, the bloody cancer came. It was during the last European Championship when, before the final, they announced that the disease had returned. He played, knowing it, the final of the championship. It was time to go through the treatment again, but Berger only missed one league game. “Football has really saved me”, explained. She was one of the three best goalkeepers in the world this same year. The German is very clear: “I want them to see that, after cancer, I am a normal person again.”
In a documentary on the BBC, the goalkeeper told how she experienced her illness for the first time. “My first thought was: why me?” he would say. “Why me, if I have never drank or smoked and I lead a very healthy life? It is unfair ”, he reflected on the BBC. He overcame it and, as soon as he was available again, he played: “I spoke to coach Marc Skinner and I begged him to let me play that game, I begged him. ‘I’m ready, I know I’m ready,’ I insisted. Berger was cured and he wanted people to know that it is possible to return to your life after this disease. After getting over it for the first time he said: “I have never felt so proud of myself.” She will now be doubly proud…
Barça with everything, Chelsea with problems behind
Barcelona visits a Stamford Bridge that will be close to full with a pleasant memory against the Blues. The last confrontation between the two teams ended with the first Champions League in the club’s history in the showcases. After a failed final last year against Olympique Lyon, Giráldez’s men want to repeat their success this season. And they have many options to do so. But first it’s time to face one of the ‘coconuts’. A star-studded Chelsea that comes from eliminating Olympique de Lyon in the quarterfinals. Game is expected.
Emma Hayes has a cast of stars on her staff: Berger, Buchanan, Perisset, Brigth, Kirby, Ingle, Harder, James or Kerr. A great team that, however, he is second in the WLS. The Blues want to make history and, furthermore, they have that little thorn stuck in them from two seasons ago. The prepared one knows about the difficulty of the duel and gives Barça the role of favorite: “Barça plays the best football in Europe”. He already warns that he will have to defend, but, for this, he will notor he will have his two bastions: Brigth and Buchanan, both injured. Without their central defenders, the captain Eriksson and the Norwegian Mjede They will occupy the center of the rear. Harder will start again from the bench so that James, Reitten and Kerr occupy the attacking trident.
For his part, Barcelona traveled with its entire squad, including Alexia, although the captain did not enter the call. With all of them available for the first time this season, including Oshoala and Pina, who won’t start either. The coach can line up his gala eleven and the question lies in whether he will seek the verticality and power of Salma or the association and possession of Mariona. With Rolfö occupying the lane, Giráldez could opt for the second option to win the ball in the midfield and the speed of circulation in the face of what is expected to be a very closed defense.
The curtain opens on this semifinal between two of the great favorites for the title. A great match with all the incentives and with a final on the horizon. But, cAs Giráldez stressed, it is a 180-minute tie and it will be the Camp Nou who dictates the sentence.
