“Questions will probably be requested” of Chelsea supervisor Sonia Bompastor following her facet’s underwhelming of their Ladies’s Champions League opener, says former England ahead Lianne Sanderson.
Chelsea had been favourites heading into the tie, having put 9 objectives previous the Dutch champions throughout two group-stage conferences final season.
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And after match heavyweights Barcelona, who’ve knocked Chelsea out within the semi-finals in every of the previous three editions, thrashed Bayern Munich 7-1 on Tuesday, the Blues would have been hoping for a press release win of their very own as they seek for a maiden European trophy.
As a substitute, they had been compelled to accept some extent, with Sandy Baltimore’s 71st-minute penalty cancelling out Danique van Ginkel’s opener for the hosts.
Chelsea’s “disjointed” efficiency was the product of the seven modifications made to their beginning XI, in line with Sanderson, who stated Bompastor “took Twente calmly” and made the “unsuitable crew choice”.
Ellie Carpenter, Millie Shiny, Baltimore, and Aggie Beever-Jones had been the one gamers retained from Friday’s Ladies’s Tremendous League draw with Manchester United.
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“Questions will probably be requested of Sonia as a result of that is the competitors all Chelsea followers wish to win. It is just one sport however you take a look at different groups, like Barcelona, they usually acquired off to a flyer,” Sanderson stated on Disney+.
“Bompastor made too many modifications. It appeared disjointed. Too many modifications, the chemistry wasn’t there. Lots of the gamers that began had minimal minutes.
“Followers will really feel pissed off. Twente deserved that. Most individuals anticipated Chelsea to go on and win it, so truthful play.
“In the end, Bompastor goes to must make some tough choices in all competitions. She remains to be looking for her greatest XI. She will’t preserve all people blissful.
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“Tonight it was the unsuitable crew choice. They took Twente calmly and Twente deserved it extra.”
‘Not a superb consequence in any respect’
Chelsea outperformed Twente in most of the stats. They registered 20 pictures to their hosts’ 9 and had 64% possession.
Guro Reiten had a number of makes an attempt on purpose, Alyssa Thompson had a second-half strike dominated out for offside, Sjoeke Nusken and Baltimore each introduced saves out of Diede Lemey, and Maika Hamano put a golden alternative over the bar within the first half after a wise pullback from Oriane Jean-Francois.
However for all their management and dominance, they solely transformed one in all their six makes an attempt heading in the right direction – one thing Bompastor stated is “not sufficient” in a European competitors.
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“It is not a superb consequence in any respect,” she informed Disney+. “We wished to begin the marketing campaign with three factors and a victory.
“Out of possession, I am fairly proud of the efficiency, even when we conceded a purpose. In possession, it’s good to present extra want, particularly if you end up within the field. We created quite a lot of alternatives and could not rating multiple.
“Within the first half, we had a number of conditions within the field and 18 crosses, however solely six occasions we had been first on the ball. This isn’t ok whenever you play a Champions League sport.”
‘Chelsea must win this competitors’
Baltimore’s penalty saved Chelsea from a primary defeat in all competitions since April 2025 [Reuters]
Whereas crucial of Chelsea’s wastefulness in entrance of purpose, former England midfielder Fara Williams praised their capacity to come back from behind and salvage a draw.
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“The constructive they will take is they arrive away with some extent,” Williams stated. “The vital factor is that they put factors on the board. They did that in coming again and confirmed they will keep in video games and they don’t seem to be straightforward to beat.
“It wasn’t the three factors they wished but it surely definitely was some extent that will probably be essential come the top of the group stage.”
Bompastor additionally alluded to her facet’s mentality, calling on her gamers to “take the learnings” from this efficiency and ensure they “mentally flip round” to concentrate on their subsequent sport – a house outing in opposition to Tottenham within the Ladies’s Tremendous League on Sunday.
Sanderson, nevertheless, didn’t sugarcoat what’s at stake for Chelsea, nor the strain on the shoulders of a crew backed by large funding – however and not using a European title.
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“It is a non-negotiable that Chelsea win the Champions League this yr,” she stated. “It will not be straightforward, however the quantity of funding they’ve had, they must win this competitors.”
[BBC]
Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are again for one more season of the Ladies’s Soccer Weekly podcast. New episodes drop each Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus discover interviews and additional content material from the Ladies’s Tremendous League and past on the