If there were honorable losses, this was one of them.
I think we can be proud of what we achieved. We put our souls into the work and gave it our all, but they are a few numbers too strong, says team captain Jacob Une to Disney+.
Far into the first half, the match was open. A motivated, proud Djurgården against a home team that seemed to be playing with half a gear and mostly wanting to get the game over with on their way to the final.
Chelsea could lean back on their 4–1 lead from the match in Stockholm, manager Enzo Maresca saving his bench, not least with Sunday's important meeting with Newcastle in the Premier League in mind.
Had chances
Djurgården didn't give away much defensively and going forward, there were one or two opportunities. Tokmac Nguen, Santeri Haarala, and Keita Kosugi had more or less successful finishes.
The minimal chance of giving the semifinal some excitement disappeared with six minutes left until halftime.
Then Chelsea – just like at the 3 arena last week – showed how skillfully the team is at swiftly striking back and punishing their opponents when they're not gathered. Tyrique Georges' centrally struck and opening pass found Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Jacob Rinne was helpless against the shot that slipped in between the posts.
Strong support
Over 5,000 supporters were reported to have made their way to London, but less than half got tickets to the away section. According to Disney+, it still worked out for many Djurgården fans, who got tickets to other sections of the arena.
We wanted to give everyone who traveled here a great evening. Regardless of where we've played, it's felt like home turf, says Jacob Une.
Djurgården can look back on a sportingly and economically rewarding adventure that began with the qualifying match in July last year. The successes against clubs like Maribor, Linz, Panathinaikos, Legia Warszawa, and Rapid Wien have brought in income of over 100 million kronor and important ranking points for Swedish football.
For the first time since IFK Göteborg won the Uefa Cup in 1987, a Swedish club has reached the semifinal in a European cup tournament.
We can be extremely proud of what we've achieved as a club, says Jacob Une.
Going forward, the injury-plagued squad can focus on Allsvenskan. Next up is IFK Göteborg at Gamla Ullevi on Monday.
For Chelsea, Real Betis awaits in the final in Wroclaw, Poland, on May 28.
