Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor challenged her players to have “no regrets” as they seek to turnaround a 2-0 aggregate deficit against Manchester City in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday.
The Women’s Super League champions face being eliminated at the quarter-final stage after suffering the first defeat of Bompastor’s reign a week ago when two goals from Vivianne Miedema helped Nick Cushing’s team put one foot in the last four.
Chelsea have reached the semi-final in each of the last two seasons but despite their runaway lead in the WSL and a 15-point advantage over City they face a disappointing early exit from Europe.
A BIG European night awaits! 👊
Back the Blues and be at the Bridge on Thursday! 🔥
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 26, 2025
Thursday’s game at Stamford Bridge will be Chelsea’s fourth match in a row against City, with victories so far for Bompastor’s side in the WSL on Sunday and in the League Cup final.
“The result in the last game helps a lot mentally,” said Bompastor. “When we won the League Cup final, mentally it’s always better to recover when you win the game. Everyone is in a good place. We’re ready to attack the game tomorrow.
“I think we could rotate the squad a little bit (after) the game on Sunday so we have some fresh legs.
“We know now what we have to do. We are confident enough we can turn things around.
WHAT A WIN! WHAT A TURNAROUND!#CFCW pic.twitter.com/YOsRRYBccG
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 23, 2025
“It’s always more difficult when you are losing by two goals, but we are confident, we are playing a home game. It will be tough and difficult, we know that but we are ready to embrace the challenge. This is what the squad and the club are about.
“It’s a new challenge. We have never been in this situation this season but we are ready. I just want my players at the end of the game to not have any regrets.”
Despite losing the first leg, an unprecedented clean sweep of trophies remains a possibility, with the League Cup already in the bag and a WSL lead that looks increasingly unassailable.
Chelsea face Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final in April but it is the Champions League, which the club is yet to win, that remains the ultimate prize.
Their predicament could have been more severe had skipper Millie Bright not intervened with a superb last-ditch tackle to prevent Miedema from sealing her hat-trick in the first leg.
The Champions League remains the only major club honour not yet claimed by Bright, who also captained the Lionesses to victory in the European Championship final at Wembley in 2022.
“It’s a situation where you have to remain calm,” said Bright. “If we look across our last performances there are plenty of positives.
“We’re not in the position we would have liked to have been in but we’re in it, so it’s about reacting, understanding where we’re at.
“We know what we need to do and we’re very confident in ourselves. It’s not an impossible turnaround.”
