During her pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League opener, Sonia Bompastor criticised the last-minute postponement of Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League match against Manchester United, originally scheduled to take place on Sunday.
With the Blues scheduled to host Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, their Sunday lunchtime kick-off was chalked off over concerns for player welfare – but Bompastor criticised the late decision, expressing that it “changed everything for the preparations on Tuesday.”
What did Sonia Bompastor say?
“We were disappointed – players and staff,” expressed the former French international, already dealing with the intricacies of a congested calendar just months after succeeding Emma Hayes as Chelsea boss.
“I think everyone has to understand that we were supposed to play, [we were] in a good team dynamic and not having the opportunity to play this weekend changed everything for the preparation on Tuesday against Real Madrid.”
“We have been out of competition for 10 days which is completely different. If you look at the decision, it’s not good… for all the English clubs in the Champions League competition,” she continued.
“They need to know about the rules and I said to the league my thoughts in this situation. It’s good enough for me, I don’t want to share more here in the press conference. It’s good for them to have our feedback.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe UEFA Women’s Champions League is a competition that Bompastor knows well, having won the competition thrice with Olympique Lyonnais – twice as a player before then delivering success as a manager in 2021/22.
“This competition means a lot for every player and member of staff,” she revealed during Monday’s press conference, continuing to add that her side are “really excited to get started in this competition especially because this first match will be at home at Stamford Bridge.”
The Blues’ first test will come against Real Madrid, with the Spanish side having become a familiar opponent after meeting Chelsea in the past two seasons of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Bompastor was keen to emphasise that las Blancas have changed since those meetings, telling reporters that “Real Madrid have had some changes in their squad, bought some new players and are different from last season.”
“I know that they’re one of the most competitive teams in the Spanish league,” she noted, concluding that “they really want to win but we’re really prepared for that and have a lot of qualities in the team and the squad, so we’re now ready to face every scenario that comes to us.”
