Sonia Bompastor has revealed she has come up short in her first season at Chelsea by not winning the Champions League and the quadruple.
The Blues were demolished once again by Barcelona, succumbing to a 4-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge as they exited the Champions League semi-finals with an 8-2 aggregate loss.
As Barcelona ran riot with three first-half goals without reply in front of 26,000 fans at Stamford Bridge, it highlighted the real gulf in class between the Women’s Super League’s dominant team and Europe’s elite. Chelsea were booed off by the home crowd at full-time.
It was the joint-second-worst defeat of Bompastor’s career – the 5-1 loss to Arsenal while Lyon head coach in late 2022 stands as her worst professional loss.
Even though Bompastor can still complete a domestic treble by winning the top-flight title and the FA Cup to go with the League Cup already in the bank, it is not enough for the Chelsea coach.
Asked if she has fallen short of her ambitions for this season, she replied: “Yeah. I’m not going to shy away from the ambitions of the club.
Chelsea could not keep Barcelona off the scoresheet
“That’s really easy for some managers to not assume the ambitions. I want to assume them because I’m really competitive.
“This club has everything to perform and to be able to make the quadruple. It didn’t happen this year, we are all sad and frustrated about it, but we now need to reflect on how can we make it possible.
“Coming to Chelsea as a competitive person, I want to make sure we fight for every trophy possible
“Domestically, we still have the opportunity to win two more trophies. I hope we will win the last two trophies, the league and the FA Cup. For a first season, it would be a good season, not a perfect and ideal one that I was coming for.”
‘We were not ready for CL – we need reflection’
Barcelona coach Pere Romeu celebrates with his staff after a brutal first-half display
Speaking after the game, Bompastor admitted the two 4-1 losses to Barcelona showed her side were not “ready” to win the Champions League.
It is the fourth time in the last five seasons that Chelsea’s Champions League dream ended at the hands of Barcelona – but this defeat was the biggest difference between the winner and the loser.
Asked to explain why Chelsea are not ready – despite boasting one of the best and deepest squads in Europe – Bompastor replied: “Now’s maybe not the right time to do that because we have important games to come.
“As a club and as a manager, I want to make sure we reflect on these two games. These two games are two big learnings for us.
“If we want to move forward, we need to reflect on what we need to be a better team and perform against the best teams in Europe, which Barcelona is. But every club has that reflection.
“I remember when Barcelona lost the Champions League final in 2022 against Lyon, they had this big reflection and how they moved forward to be a better team.
“We will have that time with the club, the ownership, the sporting directors and myself to improve in the right direction to make sure we compete against Barcelona and other teams.”
Chelsea were well beaten by Barcelona
Before the game, Bompastor asked her team to show what Chelsea are all about. When asked at full-time if that was the case, she replied: “What do you think? Not really.
“That’s what is difficult. You can lose a game but at least you need to show more pride. We were playing at home so it’s difficult.
“One of the only positive things we can take from that, I clearly know what we need to do, what we need to have to be a better team to compete against these teams.”
