Sonia Bompastor hails ‘perfect’ Chelsea after reaching Champions League semis

Sonia Bompastor hailed Chelsea’s “perfect” effort after the Blues bounced back to book a meeting with holders Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.

Manchester City dealt Bompastor’s side their first defeat across all competitions in the opening leg, but three-first half goals in their 3-0 Stamford Bridge return leg assured them of a 3-2 aggregate victory and passage to the final four.

Sandy Baltimore fired the hosts in front in the 14th minute and Nathalie Bjorn nodded in a second before Mayra Ramirez added the decisive third before the break.

“I’m allowing myself to just enjoy,” said Bompastor, when asked if she was allowing herself to dream a bit more about the possibility of a quadruple.

“I think, sometimes in football, you work really hard, you sometimes get good results, sometimes not.

“But I think tonight was a perfect night for us being able again to play at Stamford Bridge with our fans, and being able to turn things around.

“Again, I’m really proud of my players, and yeah, it was a difficult challenge, but we believed it was possible, and I think this belief was something really strong in our side and maybe made the difference.”

Bompastor was relieved to see the end of a stretch that saw her runaway Women’s Super League leaders face Manchester City four times in 12 days.

The Champions League trophy was the one prize that evaded the Frenchwoman’s predecessor, Emma Hayes, and they have a formidable potential roadblock to the final in Barcelona, who booked their own ticket to the semis with a 6-1 victory over Wolfsburg.

“We’ll do everything possible to make that happen,” Bompastor added. “Barcelona has a lot of experience, a lot of talent in the squad, and it will be a tough challenge but everything is possible.

“We will bring all the confidence we need to go into those two games, but first we want to enjoy because it was not easy.”

Interim City boss Nick Cushing conceded his side’s long list of injuries did not help their cause, but refused to use it as an excuse.

He said: “It’s been the ultimate test. It’s the ultimate test when you play the best team, the most consistent, the most informed team, it shows you where you’re at, right?

“I’m proud of the group. We’ve shown that togetherness, and the fight and the spirit and the determination is there.

“We’ve caused Chelsea real problems in all four games.”

City, who travel to Brighton on Sunday, remain mired in a battle for the WSL top three and Champions League places, and host Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals on April 13th.

“We know what we’ve got to play for now,” Cushing added. “We have to play for an FA Cup, first against Manchester United.

“We’ve got to play for the Champions League place and chase down Manchester United, Arsenal, starting with Brighton on Sunday.

“So there’s the clarity on what we have to achieve, it’s there. We now have to find the solutions to make sure we’re competitive in all those games.”