What we learned about Bompastor’s Champions League approach from Chelsea 3-2 Real Madrid

Champions League football returned to Stamford Bridge with a bang on Tuesday night as Chelsea beat Real Madrid 3-2 in an exhilarating encounter between two European giants. With last season’s heartbreaking semi-final loss to Barcelona still in the back of their minds, new boss Sonia Bompastor will hope that her pedigree in the tournament – both as a player and a manager – will provide the final push to get over the line this season. This performance certainly showed that she wants to grab the Champions League by the scruff of the neck.

This was by no means a perfect performance – Chelsea twice let Real Madrid back into the game when it should’ve already been put to bed. However, this game has taught us plenty about how Bompastor will want her side to approach games this season; if not strictly tactically, then certainly mentally, and this can be shown through the performances of Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sandy Baltimore, and the use of Lauren James.

Here’s what we learned about how Sonia Bompastor’s tactical roadmap as she looks to take Chelsea to European glory for the first time.

Look wide

One fascinating aspect of the match was how Bompastor set out her side to play from the start. She essentially told Madrid: “We are more athletic than you and we are better technically than you,” a brave assertion in your first European game at a new club. She did this by sending her side to press aggressively from the front and hound the opponents’ defence and midfield relentlessly while in possession, but this was paired with her interesting use of width.

Summer signing Sandy Baltimore is known for her pace and technical ability on both wings, so it raised some eyebrows when she came on against Crystal Palace last week at left-back. This isn’t a position that’s entirely alien to her, so seeing her start the game from the back last night over a more established left-back like Ashley Lawrence made it clear Bompastor had big plans for her.

In reality, she was more of a wing-back, marauding down the line whenever Chelsea had possession and – crucially – staying very wide to provide an outlet at all times to retain possession. This was mirrored on the other side by the undoubted player of the match, Kaneryd, whose hard work off the ball and skill on it played a key role in Chelsea’s victory.

FromTheSpot asked Bompastor after the game about the role the two of them play in the side and the responsibility she put on them, and she made clear how important the pair were in carrying out her game plan.

“Small details can make the difference in high-level games so I want them to be proactive in the game. With Sandy and Kaneryd they are both doing that. The most important thing is for them to understand what position they need to be when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball.”

This goes a long way in explaining their impact on this game, as they carried out her instructions perfectly. Having Baltimore so high up was dangerous due to the space left behind her that Las Blancas repeatedly tried to capitalise on, but Bompastor had the trust in both her that she could track back to help defend and that the midfield pivot of Wieke Kaptein and Sjoeke Nüsken would sniff out any counters. She knew her side’s athletic ability could handle the threat of transitions.

This extra width provided by Baltimore caused havoc for Madrid’s right-hand side, as Athenea struggled with her task of marking the French international. That meant that when right-back Sheila Garcia provided support in dealing with these runs, it opened up space for the likes of Guro Reiten and Lauren James to operate in.

Bompastor’s simple but effective message: “Run a lot”

While positional awareness and tactical discipline were very important in this win, what gave Chelsea the edge on the night was their hard work and individual excellence, exemplified by the outstanding performance of Rytting Kaneryd.

The Swede continued her brilliant start to the season with a performance that will get her firmly in her new boss’ good books. While carrying out a similar role on the opposite flank by providing width to stretch and tire out their opposition, she also epitomised something Bompastor said in her post match press conference.

“You need to have high intensity and if you want to keep the ball you need to run a lot.”

It’s a very simple message, but one that Kaneryd personified on the pitch, with her hard work single-handedly giving Chelsea their first and third goal of the night, while also helping to bring the struggling Lauren James back into the game.

Chelsea went ahead early after Real Madrid failed to clear their lines properly from a corner, and Kaneryd showed exactly why Bompastor was so confident that they would beat Madrid both athletically and technically, as she was crucial in forcing high turnovers to put Madrid on the back foot.

Real’s opener saw Kaneryd chase down a loose ball and steal it from Athenea, who was meant to start any Madrid transitions from this position. However, Kaneryd’s pace and persistence caught her off guard and she then had her beat for pace, and leaving the six Madrid defenders on the edge of the box scrambling to get back into position.

Kaneryd then bombed down the right wing, hugging the touchline and exploiting the space her movement created. Her outstanding technical ability means she’s trusted to beat any defender one-on-one, so by the time she cut onto her favoured right foot, the Spanish side were helpless. Her pace meant the defence were caught off guard and Reiten was able to get goal side of an unfortunate Sheila Garcia, who the header deflected off for the opener.

Then for the third goal, her pursuit of these high turnovers paid off again as she won the Blues back possession by hounding an exhausted Olga and giving her side another chance to exploit their width.

As Chelsea looked to recycle possession to get back in their shape, Kaneryd drifted back out wide in position to receive a vintage long ball from Millie Bright, but was then let down by a heavy pass from Reiten that left her scrambling to keep the ball in play. Real Madrid’s defenders made the mistake of assuming it would run out – but Kaneryd had shown her willing to chase down every loose ball, and in doing so she created a chance for Lauren James to lurk nearby in acres of space.

While James may not have had the best game, this is a prime example of why Bompastor has given her a free role to roam in behind the front three. The space that Baltimore and Kaneryd’s width creates will provide opportunities for James to punish sides, and that happens again here.

As the Lioness received the ball, Olga and Filippa Angeldahl were stuck between a rock and a hard place: should they press James, or track the progress of Kaneryd who has been running them ragged all night? Ultimately both were left stranded as they commited to neither, and James lofted in a perfectly weighted cross for Mayra Ramírez to head home.

This shows exactly what Bompastor means when she said you need “high intensity” to keep possession. Most players would have given up long before those chances were made, but Kaneryd’s tireless running and tactical maturity allowed her to not only use her own skill to breakdown the Madrid defence, but also to create space for her teammates to exploit.

Chelsea’s next UEFA Women’s Champions League test comes against Twente (who beat Celtic 2-0 last night) on Thursday 17th October at 20:00. Follow all the breaking news and analysis from the UWCL here on FromTheSpot.

J Cardy

Journalist

Football News 24/7