Substitute Catarina Macario scored two penalties as Chelsea came from behind to beat Real Madrid and move into the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals as Group B winners.
Real had looked on course to snatch top spot after Scotland forward Caroline Weir gave them an early lead with her shot taking a deflection off Lucy Bronze before Hannah Hampton could not keep the ball out, despite getting a hand to the strike.
Sonia Bompastor, in danger of suffering a first loss since she took charge of the Blues in the summer, brought on United States international Macario for the ineffective Mayra Ramirez in a game-changing substitution at half-time.
The impact was instant. After already having an effort ruled out for offside and another shot go just wide, Macario scored her first penalty in the 51st minute after she had been brought down by Olga Carmona.
The defender, who scored when Spain beat England 1-0 in the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, conceded another penalty shortly afterwards as she handled following Wieke Kaptein’s flick.
Macario again fired her penalty high into the right side of the goal as Chelsea went on to win Group B with six wins out of six.
“I went out knowing what I had to do. I wanted to have a positive impact and give my all, to give my team more options and bring energy,” said Macario.
“In the first half Real Madrid had a great performance. We needed to have more possession and I was prepared to change that. Looking ahead to the draw, it doesn’t matter who comes. We are confident in our abilities.”
Chelsea will face one of the group runners-up in March’s two-legged quarter-finals, with the draw held in Nyon, Switzerland on 7 February.
German side Wolfsburg will finish second in Group A, while the winners and runners-up of Group C and Group D will be known on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich currently lead Group C over Arsenal, before they meet at Meadow Park, while Manchester City will finish above Barcelona in Group D if they earn a point or only lose by a one-goal margin in their match in Spain.
