A brief flurry of second-half goals at the Bridge saw Guro Reiten give Chelsea the lead from the penalty spot shortly after the hour mark. Real Madrid equalised quickly but almost immediately we were back in front when Erin Cuthbert’s cross was diverted in for an own goal, giving us a 2-1 win over the Spaniards.

That result guarantees we will not only progress to the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League, but we will do so as group winners.

While manager Emma Hayes admits it wasn’t her team’s finest performance, she can’t complain after victory over a top European side secured our place in the next round, avoiding any potential nerves in our final group fixture away at Paris FC next Tuesday.

‘To qualify with a game to go in a tough group is exactly where we want to be,’ said Hayes. ‘I didn’t think it was a scintillating performance but you have them sometimes.

‘We played against a team that sat really low and compact and looked to hit on the counter, so we had a lot of the ball. Breaking them down was tough because of that reason.

‘Bringing on Lauren [James] at half-time really helped, there was a bit more movement, but also we’ve got a games accumulation at the minute and I thought we looked a little laboured in what we did.

‘But I think when it was time to go up another level we did that in the right moments.’

Emma also had a message for the supporters, after more than 11,000 turned up to show their support at the Bridge last night.

‘Thank you for being here, we felt your presence,’ she added. ‘Hopefully we get the chance to play a really nice tie in the next round. We’ve qualified, we know that much, but whoever we play hopefully we can build on these numbers and pack this place out.’

You can watch Emma Hayes' full post-match reaction to the 2-1 Champions League win over Real Madrid in the video above