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“Your brain just goes crazy,” is how Sonia Bompastor described the process of managing a team playing the same opposition four times back to back.
Her Chelsea side undeniably came out on top against Manchester City in this run of games, with a League Cup title, a Champions League semi-final spot and three additional points in the Women’s Super League to show for their efforts 12 days after the sequence began.
Thursday’s 3-0 win over City, overturning a two-goal deficit from the first leg of the quarter-final, was the most impressive display from a Chelsea side which weaved its way tactically through the four matches.
Goals from Sandy Baltimore, Nathalie Bjorn and Mayra Ramirez turned the tie on its head before half-time and ensured they will contest their third Champions League semi-final in three years against Barcelona. Chelsea were set up for total domination, and after taking 28 shots at the weekend — the most City had faced in a WSL match — they had another 22 at Stamford Bridge.
The most notable decision made by Bompastor was to pick 19-year-old Wieke Kaptein as her No 10 on the night. There were arguably three players ahead of her in the pecking order in Catarina Macario, Maika Hamano and Sjoeke Nusken. It is a testament to her performance that none of them got off the bench. When asked about the choice to start her following the game, Bompastor’s response was simple: “Did you see her on Sunday?”
The reference to Kaptein’s performance in the league against the same opponents, a game in which Chelsea came from a goal down to win 2-1, demonstrated how much Bompastor has evolved the team over all four matches against City.
“It’s harder when you play the same team,” the former France midfielder said in her post-match press conference. “Because you think even more maybe that they think I’m going to do that tactic or maybe they think I’m going to do that one.
“It’s important to find the right balance, not having to think too much about them but also focusing on yourself and believing in your strategy.”
The key area Bompastor did have to focus on was how to deal with right-winger Kerolin Nicoli, City’s most credible threat across the four games. The Brazilian played a pivotal role in last week’s first leg, winning the corner for their first goal and providing the assist for the second.
Her irrepressible performance had come after a half-time tactical shift from Nick Cushing that had pushed Kerolin high and wide, while bringing on Vivianne Miedema, the scorer of both goals, as a striker for her to work off. The interim City head coach took the same approach in the WSL match too, with great effect in the first half, so it was a surprise to see him start with Miedema in midfield and Mary Fowler as the striker.
“We went to play a 97-minute game,” explained Cushing in his post-match press conference when asked about that decision. “We wanted to give us a chance to be in the game right the way until the end, knowing that we are playing against the team that are champions-elect. We had the ability to bring Laura Coombs off the bench and bring Jess Park off the bench, which gave us the sustained intensity we needed for the entire game.”
With City’s injury problems, they could only name four outfield players on their bench, and it seemed as if the decision to use Miedema in midfield reflected a hope that they could hold on and bring on fresh legs in that area as the game progressed. As it was, Chelsea were ahead on aggregate by the end of the first half and even though City would have only needed to score one to send the tie to extra time, they never seriously looked like they would.
“I was a left-back, so I was ‘fingers crossed’ not to play against her,” said Bompastor when asked how she dealt with Kerolin. Both of Chelsea’s left-backs in Baltimore and Niamh Charles had struggled in their own way to deal with her.
“I had some video reviews with Sandy and Niamh to try to explain to them what I was expecting them to do against Kerolin. But it’s not only a one-v-one, as a team we have to defend Kerolin because she’s a really talented player and she can bring a lot to the game. The way we found a better balance in the team with our left back, but also with other players, was better in the second half on Sunday.”
Bompastor’s tactical adjustments across the matches deserve huge amounts of praise. The sacking of Gareth Taylor on the eve of them was no doubt a spanner in the works of her preparation, but she showed she could deal with everything Cushing threw at her.
The ability to succeed in the Champions League is an undeniable part of why Chelsea hired her — she is the only person in the women’s game to have won the competition as a player and manager, as she did with Lyon — and despite the nerves about how her Chelsea side would overcome a two-goal deficit from the first-leg, she has steered them into the final four admirably.
If she can get them past Barcelona, the opponents who have derailed their Champions League hopes more than any other, she will have written herself into the club’s history books after only seven months in charge.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Chelsea, Champions League, UK Women's Football
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
Her Chelsea side undeniably came out on top against Manchester City in this run of games, with a League Cup title, a Champions League semi-final spot and three additional points in the Women’s Super League to show for their efforts 12 days after the sequence began.
Thursday’s 3-0 win over City, overturning a two-goal deficit from the first leg of the quarter-final, was the most impressive display from a Chelsea side which weaved its way tactically through the four matches.
Goals from Sandy Baltimore, Nathalie Bjorn and Mayra Ramirez turned the tie on its head before half-time and ensured they will contest their third Champions League semi-final in three years against Barcelona. Chelsea were set up for total domination, and after taking 28 shots at the weekend — the most City had faced in a WSL match — they had another 22 at Stamford Bridge.
The most notable decision made by Bompastor was to pick 19-year-old Wieke Kaptein as her No 10 on the night. There were arguably three players ahead of her in the pecking order in Catarina Macario, Maika Hamano and Sjoeke Nusken. It is a testament to her performance that none of them got off the bench. When asked about the choice to start her following the game, Bompastor’s response was simple: “Did you see her on Sunday?”
The reference to Kaptein’s performance in the league against the same opponents, a game in which Chelsea came from a goal down to win 2-1, demonstrated how much Bompastor has evolved the team over all four matches against City.
“It’s harder when you play the same team,” the former France midfielder said in her post-match press conference. “Because you think even more maybe that they think I’m going to do that tactic or maybe they think I’m going to do that one.
“It’s important to find the right balance, not having to think too much about them but also focusing on yourself and believing in your strategy.”
The key area Bompastor did have to focus on was how to deal with right-winger Kerolin Nicoli, City’s most credible threat across the four games. The Brazilian played a pivotal role in last week’s first leg, winning the corner for their first goal and providing the assist for the second.
Her irrepressible performance had come after a half-time tactical shift from Nick Cushing that had pushed Kerolin high and wide, while bringing on Vivianne Miedema, the scorer of both goals, as a striker for her to work off. The interim City head coach took the same approach in the WSL match too, with great effect in the first half, so it was a surprise to see him start with Miedema in midfield and Mary Fowler as the striker.
“We went to play a 97-minute game,” explained Cushing in his post-match press conference when asked about that decision. “We wanted to give us a chance to be in the game right the way until the end, knowing that we are playing against the team that are champions-elect. We had the ability to bring Laura Coombs off the bench and bring Jess Park off the bench, which gave us the sustained intensity we needed for the entire game.”
With City’s injury problems, they could only name four outfield players on their bench, and it seemed as if the decision to use Miedema in midfield reflected a hope that they could hold on and bring on fresh legs in that area as the game progressed. As it was, Chelsea were ahead on aggregate by the end of the first half and even though City would have only needed to score one to send the tie to extra time, they never seriously looked like they would.
“I was a left-back, so I was ‘fingers crossed’ not to play against her,” said Bompastor when asked how she dealt with Kerolin. Both of Chelsea’s left-backs in Baltimore and Niamh Charles had struggled in their own way to deal with her.
“I had some video reviews with Sandy and Niamh to try to explain to them what I was expecting them to do against Kerolin. But it’s not only a one-v-one, as a team we have to defend Kerolin because she’s a really talented player and she can bring a lot to the game. The way we found a better balance in the team with our left back, but also with other players, was better in the second half on Sunday.”
Bompastor’s tactical adjustments across the matches deserve huge amounts of praise. The sacking of Gareth Taylor on the eve of them was no doubt a spanner in the works of her preparation, but she showed she could deal with everything Cushing threw at her.
The ability to succeed in the Champions League is an undeniable part of why Chelsea hired her — she is the only person in the women’s game to have won the competition as a player and manager, as she did with Lyon — and despite the nerves about how her Chelsea side would overcome a two-goal deficit from the first-leg, she has steered them into the final four admirably.
If she can get them past Barcelona, the opponents who have derailed their Champions League hopes more than any other, she will have written herself into the club’s history books after only seven months in charge.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Chelsea, Champions League, UK Women's Football
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
