Sam Kerr out for Chelsea’s UWCL clash with Barcelona

LONDON – Chelsea striker Sam Kerr will miss Wednesday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League meeting with Barcelona as the club continues to manage her gradual return from a long-term knee injury.

Kerr, who recently stepped back onto the pitch after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, scored twice in Chelsea’s 6-0 victory over St. Pölten last week. However, she was left out of the squad for Sunday’s draw with Liverpool and will remain unavailable for the midweek fixture.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said the decision was part of a structured plan to ease the Australia international back to full fitness. “Sam is fine, she will probably be going with the national team next week. But she’s not available for us again,” Bompastor told reporters. “It’s just a case of managing her comeback. She got 90 minutes [against St. Pölten] and it was part of the plan for her to rest a little bit after that and not be involved in the following two games.”

Barcelona head into the tie on the back of three straight wins in the competition, and Bompastor acknowledged the level of precision required against the Spanish champions. “Against Barcelona, we might not get as many opportunities as we have created in some of our previous matches. When you play them, you need to be clinical,” she said. “We are making sure we focus our energy on that.”

Barça head coach Pere Romeu noted his side’s recent success in the fixture but stressed the difficulty of repeating it. “It is hard to beat Chelsea, but it is even harder to do it again,” he said. “If we play a complete game tomorrow, we will go a long way toward beating them again.”

In other Champions League action, Bayern Munich — fresh off a dramatic comeback win over Arsenal — will meet Paris Saint-Germain, who are still seeking their first victory of the campaign. Leuven host winless Roma, while Twente face Atlético Madrid.