It is over four years since Barcelona Femeni last lost a home game in any competition, and they manner in which they dismantled Roma in the second leg of the previous round signalled their European prowess. But Hayes is confident her players have what it takes to manage the occasion and the tie, finely balanced 1-0 in the Catalans’ favour.

‘We’re looking forward to playing at this magnificent stadium,’ the boss said.

‘It’s important for us to be in the tie. At 1-0, there is no doubt with their history here, we have to be at our very best. We have a dressing room of players that want to be in this position, and I know for sure we will give it everything we’ve got.

‘This is not pressure,’ she added.

‘This is a joy, to take part in something we are working hard every day to do. Mentality is something we work at all of the time, not one game.

‘While there are different things at stake, a Champions League final at stake, the players need no motivation, but they definitely need all of the skills that have been developed over a long period of time to manage playing in front of a large, noisy crowd, and a team that are going to keep the ball for longer periods than we are. This is a strength of our team. We are built to cope with those challenges.’

Hayes used our European campaign thus far as evidence of that statement.

‘We’ve had the hardest group in the Champions League. We’ve had to play the champions in the quarter-finals, and then former champions in the semi-finals.

‘We’ve had an incredibly tough Champions League and performed at our best levels, but I still think there is more to come from us. I know we’re better with the football than we showed, and that’s something to improve upon going into this game. We relish the challenge.’

It is one that has been made tougher by the absence of centre-backs Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan for both legs, and of course longer-term absentee Fran Kirby. All have played at the very top of the game, on the biggest stages, and would have been likely starters tonight.

It remains to be seen whether any of the trio will play again this season, with Hayes providing the latest news on Buchanan and Kirby, the latter having travelled to Spain with the group.

‘There was a slim chance Kadeisha could have been available this week. I don’t know the exact nature of the injury within her ankle. It’s not long term, but like anybody who understands ankle injuries, it’s a ligament that might take one week, might take a couple of weeks, might take three weeks. We just have to take it day by day with her.

‘Fran wanted to come with the team,’ continued Hayes.

‘She’s part of the team, so it’s great to have her with us. At this moment in time, I don’t have any more updates. She has been on the grass a little bit, but we’re having to manage day by day what that looks like. I don’t have a timeline for her return.

‘It’s an issue in her knee. If she has a pain-free day, she goes on the grass. If she’s in pain, she doesn’t. We are managing that. She’s doing anti-gravity treadmill type work. Sometimes it’s going really well, then we have little setbacks, then it’s going really well.’

• The game kicks off at 5.45pm (UK time) and can be watched on the DAZN live stream on our website and app