Real Madrid’s penultimate 2023/24 UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixture will see las Blancas head to Stamford Bridge, where they’ll face an in-form Chelsea side. Emma Hayes’ Blues saw off Manchester United by a comfortable 3-1 margin on Sunday, and will look to impress once again in front of a home crowd in SW6.
After a crushing 4-0 defeat to Barcelona Femení in the Supercopa de España Feminina last Wednesday, there is no denying that las Blancas have plenty of work to do if they want to go toe-to-toe with Chelsea under the lights.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Alberto Toril recognised that ‘they made things difficult for us in the first game and we expect them to do the same there. We will be looking to enjoy the atmosphere and the stadium.’
Embed from Getty ImagesHe told reporters that ‘we’re going there to play our game. We are Real Madrid, so we will be trying to win. We want to build on the good vibes. We’ve had a good start to the year and we’ve made improvements on some of the areas we needed to improve. We’re going to go for the win.’
But Toril’s task will be made more difficult by a plethora of injuries that have affected his side, which he says ‘are preventing us from competing as well as we can. Sometimes you have seasons like this, and you have to tackle them as well as you can. My team is ready, and we’re going to do very well.’
Despite the lengthy injury list, Toril is happy with the overall state of the squad and the general direction that las Blancas seem to be heading in. ‘We don’t have to look at others, but stick to our path,’ he told reporters on Tuesday.
‘We still have the goal of growing and focusing on ourselves. Our results have been very steady and consistent. We’re climbing the UEFA rankings and we’re among the top eight.’
‘We’re happy with the development and the hard work. We’ve got a lot of young players who are growing and improving all the time. We’re performing very well in competitive matches and I’m happy with the players’ development.’
