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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jack Lacey-Hatton

Emma Hayes sets sights on Champions League glory as Chelsea close on quarter-final place

Emma Hayes says winning the Champions League is a goal "every year" as Chelsea close in on a place in the quarter-finals.

Her side face Real Madrid in their fourth Group A clash on Thursday after taking maximum points so far. Sophie Ingle and Erin Cuthbert got the goals in a 2-0 win when the two sides met a fortnight ago, and a repeat victory would mathematically seal Chelsea's place in the last eight with two games to spare.

Speaking ahead of the tie, Hayes revealed she won't be satisfied until qualification is secure, particularly after the Blues painful group stage exit last year. 12 months ago Chelsea were edged out on goal difference by VfL Wolfsburg and Juventus after all three finished level on 11 points.

However, this season has been a different story with the Blues winning every European tie to build up a five point lead at the top of the group. But the Chelsea boss reminded her side before the Madrid rematch that the job is not done yet.

"The Champions League is the goal every year," said Hayes. "What’s different (this year) is that we’re now in a position to qualify.

"Our objectives are always to win every trophy we compete for. But we need to focus on our experience and what we've done in the competition.

"We weren’t this time last year. Our objectives are always to win every trophy we compete for and this year is no different.

"We had a tough draw, this is a really tough group, so for us just to win is the aim and put ourselves in the best position possible."

Chelsea did come close to winning Europe's biggest prize previously in Hayes' reign, reaching the final in 2020-21 only to be soundly beaten by an untouchable Barcelona side, 4-0. And the English boss, who picked up the November Manager of the Month award on Thursday and has won the WSL five times is clearly desperate to clinch the only major trophy missing from her Chelsea haul.

Chelsea celebrate after going 2-0 up against Real Madrid in the first meeting at Kingsmeadow (Katie Chan/Action Plus/REX/Shutterstock)

She did insist though that although Chelsea had the upper hand on Real when the two met at Kingsmeadow, a tougher test would await in the Spanish capital.

"We saw the way Real Madrid knocked (Manchester) City out in the earlier rounds," Hayes added. "They're a team that prove much different to English teams, with Spanish teams there's a lot of differences.

"I think as a team the patience in possession and ability to threaten, especially in wide spaces, I know is part of their (Real Madrid's) strength but for us we need to focus on our experience, what we've done in European competition.

"That is a massive pitch out there and in order to get a result we need to keep the ball very well because they do, so we absolutely have to on Thursday."

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