“I’m allowing myself to just enjoy,” revealed Sonia Bompastor in her post-match press conference when quizzed as to whether a sensational comeback win over Manchester City has allowed her to dream of completing a historic quadruple in her first season with Chelsea.
Three goals in the first half at Stamford Bridge were enough to overturn the two-goal deficit that faced Bompastor’s side after their defeat to the Cityzens in Manchester last week, and the former French international hailed a “perfect night” from her players.
“To be able to play again at Stamford Bridge with our fans and turn things around, I’m really proud of my players. It was a difficult challenge but we really believed it was possible.”
“I think this belief was something really strong in our side and maybe made the difference,” she added, suggesting that “the mental aspects in terms of performance are sometimes 70-80% of the performance and result, so having belief and mental strength going into the game was important.”
Chelsea will need to keep that belief as they prepare for their two-legged semi-final against Barcelona on 19/20 and 26/27 April, after bowing out against the Blaugrana at the same stage of the competition in each of the past two seasons.
Should Bompastor be able to navigate past the defending European champions, the 44-year-old will have the chance to write her name in Chelsea’s history by lifting the club’s first-ever UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy – something even Emma Hayes was not able to do during her successful stint in SW6.
“We’ll do everything possible to make that happen,” she insisted. If Chelsea were to reach the final, they’d come up against either Arsenal in a fierce London derby or Bompastor’s former club, Olympique Lyonnais.
“Barcelona has a lot of experience, a lot of talent in the squad, and it will be a tough challenge but everything is possible.”
“We will bring all the confidence we need to go into those two games, but first we want to enjoy because it was not easy.”