It wasn’t a pretty win, but that matters little. Emma Hayes was frank enough to describe it as “boring”, but a Guro Reiten penalty and fumbled own goal from Mylène Chavas, the visiting keeper, gave Chelsea a 2-1 win against Real Madrid and confirmed progress to the Champions League quarter-finals at the top of Group D.
Hayes’s team were dominant but they struggled to make it count, forced to wait until the clock had ticked past the hour before taking the lead. Athenea del Castillo’s equaliser heightened tensions relieved just six minutes earlier, but Erin Cuthbert’s shot was almost thrown into the net by Chavas a minute later.
“I didn’t think it was a scintillating performance, but not every game is swashbuckling,” Hayes said. “Really good response to go 2-1 and then manage the game somewhat to the end in what was an efficient performance ... it was boring.”
Hayes made two changes to the team that won 3-1 against Manchester United on Sunday, with Jess Carter replacing the ineligible Nathalie Björn, who joined this month from Everton, and Fran Kirby taking over from the hat-trick hero Lauren James.
“I didn’t want to change much because you want to build the rhythm,” Hayes said. “Now, the priority has to be experimenting and giving opportunities. It’s making sure we get Millie Bright back, Nathalie Björn registered and [Catarina] Macario ready.” Alluding to reports the Levante forward Mayra Ramírez is on her way to Chelsea, she added playfully: “Maybe there’s a new player coming … who knows!”
Asked about Bright’s return, Hayes said: “She’s not on the grass. When she gets on the grass, knowing Millie, she’ll say it will be a day. When will she be on the grass? Before or after the international break? In that period.”
Alberto Toril shuffled his Madrid starting XI with seven changes to the side that lost 4-0 against Barcelona in the Supercopa semi-finals, before the Catalan club beat Levante 7-0 in the final. Before the visit of Real, Hayes warned that there was “nothing more dangerous than playing a team that have nothing to play for”, with the Spanish side unable to progress and on a single point before the game.
Hayes was right to urge caution, despite Chelsea’s dominant position in the group and the draw between Häcken and Paris FC meaning a win would secure top spot in Group D. Real weathered the early storm well.
The visiting team could have had a penalty, though, when Kadeisha Buchanan and Carter both challenged the Colombian teenager Linda Caicedo, though the latter’s follow‑through was heavy. Without VAR until the knockout stage of the competition, there was no chance for a second look. Toril expressed his concern in the Real technical area. He looked as surprised as anyone when, after hobbling around the edge of the pitch flanked by medical staff, Caicedo re-entered play. “I don’t know,” Toril said. “I was too far away, the referee was nearer.”
James, Chelsea’s top scorer at Stamford Bridge this season, joined proceedings at half-time, making clear the desire for a win before the final group game against Paris FC. Caicedo exited at half-time for Del Castillo; with the Spanish side out there was no need to take any risks with the forward. “It was a small injury,” Toril said.
Back on the front foot after the break, with Kirby sitting ahead of James, Chelsea went close in the 55th minute, a looping header from Kirby with her back to goal almost catching out Chavas but bouncing wide.
Chelsea’s luck changed just past the hour, though, when a late tackle on Niamh Charles by Hayley Raso resulted in a deserved penalty. Reiten stepped up and fired into the bottom corner. The goal brought Stamford Bridge to life, the relief at the breakthrough palpable, but it was short‑lived. Six minutes separated the penalty and the response, Raso latching on to a ball over the top and powering it goalward. Hannah Hampton, on her Champions League debut, made a strong save, but Del Castillo was there to poke in the rebound.
One minute later Chelsea were ahead once more. Cuthbert tested Chavas, who fumbled the ball into her own net. It was a calamitous way to concede, and Real will return to Spain after seven days to forget.
For Chelsea, this was patient efficiency typical of a Hayes team – this time demonstrated by the newer generation of Chelsea players she is preparing for her successor. As Hayes readies to leave for the US women’s national team job, there is something exciting in her selections and rotations – and something to watch.
