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James suffered the setback during the Euro 2025 final victory over Spain, ruling her out for four months. Since September, she has made two encouraging substitute appearances but has yet to start a fixture under Sonia Bompastor. She was also left out of Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for the upcoming international window, a decision Bompastor insists was mutual and made entirely in the player’s best interests. Both managers agreed that while James is progressing well, her rehabilitation requires careful management.

"We had a really good conversation with Sarina and the staff, we just felt maybe it was not the right timing, or the call up was coming a little bit soon for LJ. She is still in the process of getting fully fit. I think it was a good decision," Bompastor said. "She's available to start the game against Barcelona, probably not fully fit to play 90 minutes, but yeah, she's in a good place to start."

Whereas, Wiegman said: "Of course she's moving forward well, which is really good and really nice, but it's too early. She just needs a little more time to get back to full fitness and to be ready to take on extra loading. I would hope, of course, that we could have made that decision [to select her] but I don't want to take any risks in that."

While James edges closer to full match sharpness, Chelsea will again be without Kerr. The Australian forward produced one of the most memorable moments of the season when she ended her 634-day absence from competitive football with a stoppage-time goal against Aston Villa in September. Kerr had torn her ACL during a mid-season training camp in Morocco in January 2024, an injury that wiped out the remainder of that campaign, all of 2024-25, and her chance to compete in the Paris Olympics.

Chelsea eased her back into full training over the summer, and her brief cameo and late goal upon return felt like a cathartic release for Kerr. She then remarkably completed all 90 minutes against St. Polten in the Champions League. However, Bompastor insists that Kerr’s comeback must be meticulously choreographed.

"Sam is fine, she will probably be going with the national team next week," said Bompastor, "but she's not available for us again. It's just a case of managing her comeback. She got 90 minutes (against St. Polten) 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."

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Wiegman faces her own challenges as she prepares for England’s upcoming camp. Captain Millie Bright, who stepped away from international football this week, will not return. Bright missed Euro 2025 and has now formally ended a decorated nine-year career with the Lionesses. Her departure adds to England’s growing absentee list. Leah Williamson and James remain unavailable, while Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp is also sidelined after picking up a problem last month. There is some relief, though, as Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles are back in the fold after overcoming injury issues of their own.

SKN St.Pölten v Chelsea FC Women - UEFA Women's Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3

Chelsea’s meeting with Barcelona brings back a now-familiar narrative in Europe. The two sides contested the Champions League final in 2021 and have collided in the semi-finals in three of the four seasons since. Barcelona have dominated the head-to-head meetings, losing only one of the seven encounters. The return of James, even in a limited capacity, provides a creative spark that the Blues have often lacked in big European ties. The stage is set for what has become one of the defining fixtures of the modern women’s game.

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