Chelsea Women can book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with victory over Real Madrid tonight, and Emma Hayes has underlined winning the prestigious trophy for the first time remains the primary target for her and her players.
Having been disappointingly knocked out in the group stage last season, the Blues have been dominant this time around, winning three games out of three in Group A. That has included impressive victories without conceding against nearest challengers Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Ahead of a second game against Real in Madrid tonight, Hayes has discussed the short and long-term targets in this competition with qualification for the knockouts in sight.
‘The Champions League is the goal every year, that doesn’t change,’ she stressed.
‘What’s different today is we’re in a position to qualify. That’s what we weren’t this time last year. Our objectives are always to win every trophy we compete for and this year is no different to previous.
‘We had a tough draw, it’s a tough group, so for us, just win and put ourselves in the best position possible.’
Standing in our way are Real Madrid, who have already got the better of one English side in this season’s Champions League. The meeting at Kingsmeadow a fortnight ago was a tight contest edged by the Blues courtesy of second-half goals from Sophie Ingle and Erin Cuthbert.
‘We saw the way they knocked Manchester City out in the earlier rounds, they are a team that prove a much different test to English teams when we play in our domestic game, maybe even German teams, where there might be a lot of similarities,’ Hayes acknowledged.
‘When you play the Spanish teams, there are a lot of differences. We’ve played Barcelona, we’ve played Atletico Madrid, I think [us and Real Madrid] are still learning about each other, because the first game I thought was quite cagey.’
Chelsea Women play PSG at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League on 22 December.