Lucy Bronze was one of many who felt Chelsea could’ve come away with a point against Arsenal but is not too disheartened by our 3-1 defeat as she remains confident of producing another memorable Champions League comeback after achieving a similar feat last season.
The Blues made the short trip to North London for the first leg of our Women’s Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday evening and lost 3-1, but were left disappointed when a goal from Veerle Buurman was disallowed just before half-time, and Kadeisha Buchanan’s strike was ruled out in second-half stoppage time.
The Blues also hit the post twice in the opening stages and created a number of chances across the 90 minutes.
Last season we succumbed to a 2-0 defeat away at Man City in the Champions League quarter-final, before scoring three goals in a first-half blitz at Stamford Bridge to progress to the semi-final of the competition.
Bronze has experienced enough to understand that anything can happen in a two-legged knockout tie, and remains confident we will still progress.
‘The momentum swayed throughout the game for both teams, and I feel like they got their goals during their momentum,’ said the defender afterwards.
‘We obviously got our goals, but ours were ruled out. So I think it’s frustrating in that respect, because I feel like it probably could have been a 3-3 game, rather than us taking the 3-1 loss.
‘I feel like if Veerle’s goal had been scored in the first half, we would have settled a little bit more. And even 2-1 wasn’t a bad scoreline. They just caught us on the counter with Alessia (Russo’s) great finish. I think we felt like we could’ve got back in the game when Kadeisha scored as well. But listen, we’ve been in the situation last season, when we lost to City away 2-0.
‘We went to Stamford Bridge and scored three goals in 43 minutes. So, we’ve been in the situation before. It’s just frustrating tonight because I feel like we maybe deserved more, even just an extra goal. But that’s football, that’s why everybody watches it: for the entertainment.’
Chelsea had two big chances inside the first 10 minutes of the match, which, if converted, would’ve seen us take an early 2-0 lead. Alyssa Thompson rattled the post with an attempt from the right wing with six minutes on the clock, before Lauren James hit the same post soon afterwards, jinking her way through the Arsenal defence and firing off another effort.
‘For large parts of the game, we were the better team, and we had our chances,’ Bronze continued. ‘They were just more clinical than us. We know that we can overturn this result.
‘But obviously, we know Arsenal are a top team as well. I think we’re just looking forward to the next game already, but we’ve got to rest up now and play a league fixture first.
That Women’s Super League match sees us go up against Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow on Sunday, but when the Champions League second leg comes around next Wednesday, Bronze feels we will have enough reinforcements to put Arsenal under pressure.
‘The message in the dressing room is similar to what I’ve just said, that 3-1 probably doesn’t show the real game,’ she concluded. ‘We’ve got big players with big personalities who have been here for a long time. Players who have been in this position know how to win games, know how to focus.
‘So we know we’ve got it in us. A few players are coming back from the Asian Cup as well, strengthening the squad again, so that’s going to put us in an even better position.’
