da apostaganha： Chelsea star Catarina Macario chipped in with yet another goal involvement off the bench by assisting against Ajax in thumping UWCL win.
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Macario continued Chelsea formAssist off the bench against AjaxOnly just back from 641 days out injuredWHAT HAPPENED?
Macario replaced Lauren James in the 74th minute of Chelsea's Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The Blues were already 2-0 up, but the USWNT star helped put the icing on the cake with a superb pinpoint cross to the far post for Sjoeke Nusken to head in a third. Nusken had already got on the scoresheet in the first half, as had James.
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Macario spent 641 days sidelined with an ACL injury and Chelsea fans had to be patient for her debut after she had joined the club last summer. She made her debut as a substitute in the WSL win over Leicester on March 3 and promptly marked it with a goal, before scoring the winner off the bench in the 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final win against Everton. There was another goal as a sub against Arsenal last Friday, albeit in the wrong net – not that it mattered to the result, but things were back to normal for the 24-year-old by the time Chelsea visited Amsterdam on Tuesday night.
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR MACARIO & CHELSEA?
Macario has a clear target, which is to get herself back in the USWNT setup in time for the 2024 Olympics in July and August. To do that, the forward needs to build her fitness so that she's in a position to start games, which Chelsea boss Emma Hayes recently said "she's not far away from". Given that Hayes will become United States head coach in June, Macario couldn't be in a better position to prove herself, right under the new boss' nose.
As for Chelsea, they took a big step forward in the WSL title race last week by beating Arsenal but still have the as yet elusive Champions League trophy to aim for. Only an unlikely disaster in the second leg against Ajax at Stamford Bridge on March 27 would see them fail to set up a semi-final against either Barcelona or Brann next month.