Chelsea in ‘good place’ after reaching Women’s Champions League knockouts
Posted By joeerazer
November 21, 2024
10:05 am
Sonia Bompastor says she is very pleased with her Chelsea side after securing qualification into the knockout stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) after a 3-0 win over Celtic FC at Stamford Bridge.
A strong performance from the Blues in West London saw the side solidify their spot at the top of their group after goals from Lucy Bronze, Wieke Kaptein and Eve Perisset were enough to see out Celtic under the lights.
Bompastor reflected on the victory that will take Chelsea to the quarter-final stages of the UWCL, noting she was “very happy” with the performance.
“I told the players before the game tonight, it was an opportunity for us to qualify for the quarter-finals,” she said. “I think that’s great news. But again tonight, I think we were able to rotate the squad, give the opportunity to some players to play in a Champions League game. We could also rest some players.”
The victory at Stamford Bridge means that Chelsea are yet to drop a point under Bompastor’s management, something the head coach described as a good “confidence” boost.
“Even if, as you saw last week and even tonight, everything was not perfect,” she said. “But I think in terms of results, we are in a good place, and that’s good because it brings a lot of confidence. It’s important for us to continue our run, so a lot of positives yes. We work hard and make sure things become easy, even if it’s not always easy.”
Despite already achieving qualification to the quarter-final stages of the European competition, Chelsea still have two group matches left to play against FC Twente and Real Madrid in December. Bompastor said the remaining fixtures will be a great opportunity “to make sure everyone is involved”.
“It’s been my mindset from the beginning of the season,” Bompastor explained. “We play so many games, and we need to make sure everyone is involved. It’s also an opportunity for me to show my trust to my players and squad. I think it’s important because we need to realise it’s not possible for a player to play 90 minutes every three days, especially with a squad with a lot of international players, being playing for club and national team and also traveling all around the world.”
Two of Chelsea’s goals on the night came from short corners, something Bompastor said her side “have been working on”.
“We work a lot in training sessions tactically, set pieces. I think it’s really important to work on the small details, and I think set pieces are one of them,” Bompastor expressed. “I think having different options, playing short, playing directly in, are something we have been working on. It worked tonight, we scored two goals, so it’s good. It’s always an opportunity to show we can be unpredictable.”
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