Fresh from their Continental League Cup victory Chelsea Women are looking ahead to their next challenge, a UWCL quarter-final first leg tie against Wolfsburg.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions the squads will travel to a neutral venue; the Szusza Ferenc Stadium in Hungary. Manager Emma Hayes believes it will be challenging for both teams to be playing away from home.
“There is no advantage,” she said. “A team that has a home tie could potentially have a better situation.”
Both teams are in fine form, with Wolfsburg unbeaten since November 2020. However, it’s the German side who have been victorious in all their previous meetings; most recently in the semi-finals of the 2017/18 tournament where they knocked Chelsea out with a 5-1 aggregate win.
Hayes said: “They are a phenomenal team who have a history of winning. This is a Wolfsburg team who have as much quality as I’ve ever seen. I’m sure they’ll be confident given their recent history against us.”
Chelsea signed forward Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg in September 2020, and while she will be a key player in the side Hayes says they have a lot of players in top form at the moment.
“We have players in a really good space who are in top form. The result is not dependent on any one player and is dependent on the whole.
“It’s what we do as a collective effort that’s going to make the difference,” she added.
Captain Magda Eriksson has confidence in her team heading into this tie: “We have shown over the years how much we’ve improved every year. We all feel the way that our squad have been performing lately we are at the top of where Chelsea has ever been.
“This is the best team I have ever played with,” she added.
She is also looking forward to facing a team she is very familiar with, “It’s exciting to play a team that you’ve played before to see where you are at now.”
A squad of 21 have travelled to Hungary, which includes youngsters Jorja Fox and Aggie Beaver-Jones. The team are missing both Maren Mjelde and Beth England through injury.
Kick-off for this game is 4 pm, with coverage starting at 3:30 pm on BT Sport 2.
