After training at Cobham on Tuesday morning, the squad boarded the flight to Madrid and arrived safely in the Spanish capital this evening, where manager Emma Hayes and captain Millie Bright addressed the media at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano – the venue for tomorrow’s encounter.

Having reached the semi-finals of the competition last year, where we narrowly fell to Barcelona across two legs, we will be aiming to go one step further and claim the ultimate prize with the final taking place in Bilbao next year.

When asked about the quality of the opposition in the Champions League this season, Hayes acknowledged the level has always been high in this competition and she is excited for the challenges that lie ahead.

‘This competition has been hard every year that we’ve been in it,' she said. 'We don’t underestimate that and I’ve spoken before about our earlier years in the competition and how difficult it was for us to progress in the earlier rounds. We went out in the group stage a couple of years ago.

‘Nobody in this dressing room underestimates the quality of the opponents we face, in particular a Madrid team who we drew with last year. We have to maintain the standards we set for ourselves in this competition and we’re very much looking forward to it.’

In her relentless pursuit of success, Hayes says there is no denying she would love to win the competition with Chelsea. However, her focus is very much on professionalism and preparation with little time between games this month.

‘I’m as focused as I always am. We’ve prepared the team in the best way we can with a very short amount of time. These girls are very professional and very prepared. For me, the most difficult part is picking the team.

‘It would be a fairytale [to win the competition] but I didn’t grow up liking fairytales too much. I’m much more practical than that. Of course, I would love nothing more than to be in a winning position with this team.’

Our previous visit to Real Madrid ended in a draw and Hayes is fully aware of the threats the Spaniards possess in their ranks and believes we will need to be patient in our approach on Wednesday night.

‘They are a team that are extremely quick in transition. In the front areas, they have players that in one or two passes can get in behind you and are very threatening, very patient in their defending.

‘We have to be patient away from home. They are a team that is growing in stature across Europe.’