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Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor reflects on their UWCL quarter-final victory over Man City.
NicheSportMedia
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27/03/2025
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00:00
Okay everybody, so we're going to do, obviously, reaction to the game tonight, but then we're
00:07
going to do an embargoed section in lieu of a press conference tomorrow to preview West
00:11
Ham on Sunday. So that will be embargoed until half past ten tomorrow night. What's up? This,
00:18
is that okay? You don't want to hear me, you want to hear Sonia. Yeah? The mic's are playing
00:27
up a little bit. So anyway, I'll stop talking now and we'll kick off with reaction to tonight.
00:32
Is that all right with you, Paul? It's fine with me. All right, lovely. Good, good, good.
00:38
Emma, thank you. Hi Sonia. Hi. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, are you allowing
00:44
yourself to dream a little bit more about football now? I'm allowing myself to just
00:49
enjoy. I think, you know, sometimes in football you work really hard, you sometimes get good
00:56
results, sometimes not, but I think tonight was a perfect night for us. Being able, again,
01:03
to play at Stamford Bridge with our fans and being able to turn things around. Again, I'm
01:09
really proud of my players and yeah, it was a difficult challenge, but we believed it
01:16
was possible and I think this belief was something really strong in our side and maybe made the
01:22
difference. Yeah, I think it's really important, you know, the mental aspect in terms of performance
01:42
are sometimes more than 70-80% of the performance and the results. So I think tonight, yeah,
01:51
it was part of the game, obviously, was also to have this belief, to have this mental strength
01:57
going into the game and just to think it was possible to achieve that. Even if, again,
02:04
the challenge was tough because, as you could see, we faced Man City four times. When you
02:10
have to play the same team four times in 12 days, that's a really big, big, big, big challenge.
02:16
And yeah, I just want to mention, I think City did very well in these four games against
02:22
us and yeah, I just have a small thinking about them because I know they had some injuries
02:28
and maybe it was something that went more in our side because they didn't have all their squad.
02:34
Barcelona next Chelsea, obviously, play them in the fifth and third year in the semi-final
02:40
of the road. What's your plan to be on? Can you beat them?
02:44
We'll do everything possible to make that happen. But as you know, Barcelona has a lot
02:51
of experience, a lot of talent in the squad. I was watching before our game their game
02:57
against Wolfsburg and yeah, it will be, again, a tough challenge. But in football, again,
03:03
everything is possible. So, I will bring all the confidence we need to go into that
03:08
two games. But first of all, we want to enjoy because it was not easy. We had a really great
03:14
performance today. So, I want to enjoy and we have some time to reflect on the games
03:20
in April against Barcelona.
03:21
Enjoy it, it's a pleasure.
03:23
Thank you, thank you.
03:24
Thanks. Jessie, please.
03:25
Hey Sonia.
03:26
Hey.
03:27
Congrats.
03:29
You talked about the decision to take half-time tonight. Obviously, we saw a glorious performance
03:34
against Cairns, Micah on Sunday. What led to you kicking Kika tonight and what were
03:41
you looking for in her and the Cairns in the football game against them?
03:46
Did you watch her performance on Sunday? On the league game?
03:51
Yes.
03:52
I think it was obvious. She had a really great performance. I think she just bring to the
03:57
team a lot of quality in possession of the ball. She's a young player but she's really
04:02
confident on the ball. But also, she works so hard out of possession and I think it was
04:08
something important going against City to make sure our high press was right. So, she
04:14
just brought the right thing into that aspect. But also with the ball, she created a lot.
04:20
She works hard for the team so she deserves to play and she had two great performances
04:26
on Sunday, on the league game, but again tonight.
04:29
Also, can I ask, in the first leg and in the first half on Sunday, we saw Caroline really
04:36
support the backline of the problem. In the second half of tonight, we didn't really see
04:40
much of her at all. How did you approach the defensive line against her?
04:46
For me, Caroline is a world-class player. So, never easy for the defenders. I was a
04:52
left-back myself so I was fingers crossed not to play against her because she could
04:57
have caused some trouble for me. But hopefully, I was not playing. I had some video returns
05:04
with Sandy and Neve Charles to try to explain to them what I was expecting them to do against
05:12
Caroline. But it's not only a 1v1. I think also as a team, we had to defend Caroline
05:20
all together because, again, she's a really talented player and she can bring a lot into
05:26
the game. But I think the way we find a better balance in the team with our left-back, but
05:34
also with some other players in the team, was better in the second half on Sunday, but
05:40
also today.
05:42
Catherine, next please.
05:44
Hi.
05:59
Yeah, we never do it on purpose to lose games, for sure, because that's never easy to turn
06:04
things around. But actually, I think if you remember, I just said after the first leg,
06:11
we were alive and I knew it was possible, even if I knew the challenge would be tough.
06:17
But I think it's important also for us to be able to bounce back and to have the opportunity
06:25
to lose games and see how we can react as a team. And for me, I think we put a lot of
06:31
energy as a staff and myself as a manager to make sure we just, from the first leg,
06:39
the last game in the Champions League against City, going into this game, we just make sure
06:46
the plan was the right one. You never know until you play the game and you get a good
06:51
result, but I think we, from last week going into this game, the plan with the staff and
06:57
everyone, our body language and the way we showed the players we were confident going
07:03
into this game was probably the right thing to do. And yeah, it's good also to learn from
07:08
your players because that's the first loss and I think you learn how your squad reacts
07:15
to that, so it's important also for me.
07:18
Sandra, please.
07:36
I think I'm lucky enough to have two really good left-backs. Neve is one of them also.
07:44
That's a luxury to be the Chelsea manager and to have to pick one of them. I think they
07:49
bring different qualities into our squad and into our team, but obviously Sunday is having
07:55
a really good season. Left-back is not her favourite position. I just felt like she brings
08:02
so much confidence in the ball when she plays in that position. She's able to hold the ball
08:08
under pressure and she has a really good left foot. She can deliver really great balls,
08:14
so I think that's important, depending on the games, to have this quality with Sandy.
08:20
I think she's making an impact in her season for us and I'm really pleased for her.
08:26
And for you, what have you taken away from facing the same team four times in a row and
08:31
having different tactics? What's that been like for you?
08:36
I would say, you know, probably we still have one game on Sunday, but you finish this block
08:42
really exhausted as a manager because you put a lot of energy and it's even more hard
08:49
when you play the same team because you think even more. Because sometimes you just think,
08:55
OK, how are they going to think I'm going to do that tactic? But maybe they think I'm
09:00
doing that one and your brain just goes crazy. So it's important to find, again, the right
09:06
balance, not having to think too much about them, but focusing also on yourself and believing
09:12
in your strategy. But again, it was tough because, as I mentioned, City is a really
09:19
good team and they just gave us hard work to put into the games and into the pitch.
09:26
Michael, please.
09:38
I just told my players, you know, when you are able to turn things around in 45 minutes
09:42
and able to score three goals, we created a lot of opportunities. The players get excited.
09:49
So again, it's important to get the right balance. But my main message was just to adjust
09:55
two or three things in tactics, but also to tell them we need to go into the second half
10:00
with the same mindset, wanting to score goals and with the high pressure and everything,
10:06
because I think sometimes when you stop to play, this is when sometimes it's more difficult
10:12
for you to perform. So we wanted to play with the same intentions from the first half going
10:18
into the second half. Sometimes it's more difficult because you start to get tired.
10:23
But yeah, I think we tried to do that.
10:27
Kurt.
10:49
That's really important. You know, I think I already mentioned that, but coming into
10:56
Chelsea, but in England, I think this league is really, really competitive. And I think
11:02
if you don't have depth in your squad, it's almost impossible to achieve your goals because
11:07
as you can see, the players are playing a lot of games with the national team, with
11:16
the club, and this level of intensity is really high. And I think even when you have
11:23
the opportunity to bring fresh legs into these big games, it can make a big impact. So for
11:29
me, it's really important. And if you don't get the depth in your squad, it's almost impossible
11:35
to perform and to be able to have big goals in all four competitions.
11:42
Amy, please.
11:47
I think it was important in these games against City and especially against Caroline. I think
12:14
against Caroline, to just tell them like, your main job is to defend because sometimes
12:20
with these type of players, they have a lot of quality and they want to bring quality
12:26
up on the pitch. And when you do that, and you have Caroline who sometimes cheat a little
12:33
bit and she doesn't defend, she stays high on the pitch, you get yourself more in trouble.
12:39
So I think, yeah, I just told from the game today to Sunday, you just defend. And if at
12:46
one point in the game, I feel you need to go higher in the corridor, I will let you
12:51
know. But just first of all, you are a defender, so defend and make sure we keep the balance
12:56
in the team.
13:00
No, it's down to her. Completely down to her. So sometimes, yeah, you need to give
13:06
credit to your players, but I think I already said that.
13:11
Cool. We'll finish this section with Ishan and then we'll move on to the West Ham preview.
13:15
Congratulations on the win. So before today, Chelsea had never won a knockout tie when
13:19
they lost the first leg by more than one goal. You mentioned in the past that you don't care
13:25
too much about the past, you're focused on the present and what you can build at Chelsea.
13:28
With the records that you've broken at Chelsea already this season, is this a new and perhaps
13:33
better era for Chelsea women?
13:37
I hope it will be. But again, I think I already mentioned the fact from Emma's legacy, she
13:45
just left the club in such a great place. It was something really good for me to come
13:50
in and to be able to build from that legacy. I think now I'm trying to bring my own personality
14:00
into the team. We made a lot of changes this summer with some new players coming into the
14:07
team. As a staff also, we made some changes and I think that's a transition, a new era
14:13
and hopefully it will be even better. But I think Emma had such a nice success with
14:18
the team and for that reason, I already said, but I have so much respect for the work she
14:24
has done.
14:26
I thought Johanna Ritinkanen had a great game today. She started the season on fire,
14:31
absolutely scoring and assisting almost every game. It seems like those goalscoring numbers
14:36
have dried up a little bit and no matter how hard she works on the pitch and how well she
14:40
plays, it seems like the ball just won't go to the back of the net for her. When you
14:43
have a player who's kind of going through a dry spell, how do you help them and what
14:46
are the conversations that you have with them?
14:48
I'm always trying to bring her confidence because it makes a bigger difference between
14:54
a player who is confident on the pitch and a player who loses a little bit of confidence.
14:59
But I think Yo-Yo, as you mentioned, worked really hard for the team. She has the right
15:05
mentality and sometimes in a career or in a season, you have these moments where you
15:10
drop a little bit your statistics. But I think the main thing for me is to keep the same
15:17
relationship with her, just showing her my trust and I try to do the same with all my
15:22
players. Even the ones sometimes who didn't start today, they will be maybe tomorrow feeling
15:28
a little bit down. But I need to show them my consideration because they are good players
15:34
and at one point they already brought impact in the team and they will bring in the future
15:39
more impact in the team. So I will need everyone to stay focused.
15:42
And just last one from me. It ended 3-0, a very dominant performance. It could have been
15:47
so much more with your team hitting both posts and the bar as well. At the end of the last
15:51
game, you said, everyone's trying to cook me. Would you say that your team cooked Man City today?
15:57
I will never say that because I have a lot of respect for the opposition and I think
16:03
I just feel like today we did a really great performance. I'm really proud of my players
16:08
because they put everything on the pitch. But yeah, always I will give respect to Man City
16:15
and to all the other teams because I have already been in that situation before where
16:21
I didn't win a game and it feels like we are humans so sometimes it's difficult. I just
16:28
want to say I'm really proud of my players. I think they deserve to win because they put
16:34
all the elements into the game tonight. But again, it was tough and credit to Man City
16:40
and I wish them all the best.
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