Sonia Bompastor says Chelsea must be efficient in Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League meeting with St Pölten.
Chelsea have travelled to St Pölten in Austria for their third UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) league phase match against the city’s namesake club St Pölten. Ahead of the match, Chelsea sit sixth in the UWCL league phase table, with four points from their two games, ahead of OH Leuven who have the same amount of points but a lesser goal difference.
The Blues were the superior team in the opening 15 minutes of their match against Arsenal this weekend, but failed to score more than one goal in that phase and in the match as a whole. Sonia Bompastor spoke about needing to be more clinical in front of goal after that match. Bompastor feels being clinical is about being confident in front of goal.
“Being able to be clinical goes a lot with the confidence of players,” she explains. “So it’s just for them not to start to overthink when they are in this situation and to have instinct. So I’m fully confident we’ll create opportunities tomorrow and we’ll be able to score.”
Earlier in the Champions League season, FC Twente frustrated Chelsea by playing really compact and kept the Blues to a draw. St Pölten can play very compact as well and are defensively organised. Bompastor tells The Halfway Line she thinks that against teams that play compact, it is key to score the first goal.
“I think that’s really important. When you are able to score the first goal, it changes the game a lot. So, again, efficiency will be key for the game as well”, the head coach explained.
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‘You’ve always got a chance to win’ in the UWCL declares Walsh
Bompastor was joined in the press conference room by Keira Walsh, who has won the Champions League before with FC Barcelona. Walsh says she thinks there are no easy games in the UWCL. “I think from my experience, obviously, when I won with Barcelona, we were actually losing two-nil in the final. So I think that was a viable experience in itself, knowing that, like, no matter how long the game’s left, you’ve always got a chance to win.
“And I think that’s something that we obviously took through at the Euros as well. And I think, yeah, that’s probably something that a lot of us can bring to this Chelsea team as well now,” Walsh reflects.
Walsh has found her shooting boots recently, for both club and country. She scored the match winning goal against Tottenham Hotspur in a match where Chelsea were struggling to break down the London team. Walsh also gave England some late hope when she scored the 2-1 against France in England’s opening group stage match at the Euros.
When asked by The Halfway Line if she has been working on her goal scoring form recently, as she’s normally not the highest scoring player, Bompastor interferes and jokes that Walsh’s confidence needn’t be destroyed. Bompastor emphasises that Walsh has a really good shot from distance.
“I think at times I overplay, but Sonia is always telling me to shoot,” Walsh says.
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Chelsea youngster Kaptein has ‘all the attributes to be a top player’
Wieke Kaptein has become a mainstay in Chelsea’s starting lineup at just 20 years old. Walsh partners with the Dutch youngster in midfield and thinks very highly of her.
“I really like playing with Wieke, actually. She’s really smart. I think she’s got all the attributes to be a top, top player in the female game. I think her football intelligence is probably one of the best out of the players I’ve played with. I think in terms of, like, finding the spaces and being in the pocket and I think her ability to get up and down the pitch as well is incredible for her age.
“Obviously she’s still got a lot to learn in the game, but she’s got all the attributes to be a top, top player. And I think she’s probably one of the players that I’ve got the best relationship with on the field, I would say,” Walsh commented.
Hannah Hampton did not travel with the team to Austria as she picked up a small quadriceps injury, neither did Aggie Beever Jones, who is recovering from a dead leg. Guro Reiten remains out of the squad for a happy reason as she is on parental leave. Lauren James is closing in on a return and has travelled with the team.
Chelsea play St Pölten at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday, with the game being streamed live on Disney+.