Emma Hayes has urged Chelsea to impose themselves on Lyon when they host the holders in the Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg on Thursday.
Chelsea go into the Stamford Bridge clash with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
Speaking ahead of the encounter, Hayes reiterated the strength of Chelsea’s mentality, her players’ wealth of experience in big games and the need for that to be showcased on the biggest stage.
“We want these situations, we want to be in this game tomorrow and we want to be in a position where we can impose ourselves and our game in our stadium the way we want to,” Hayes said.
“We have a lot of experience too and I think it’s important for the team as a whole to demonstrate that, particularly in the right moments.”“We have to have the right mentality to begin with and we have to be brave. You have to appreciate that their (Lyon’s) record speaks for itself but it’s important for us as a team to impose ourselves, be aggressive in the right moments, be positive in everything we do on and off the ball and we will seek the opportunity that’s in front of us and I know the entire dressing room is very much looking forward to it.”
Hayes added: “We know what to expect, it’s the champions of Europe over a long period of time for a very good reason so it’s not like we’re playing a team that is not used to being in that position, we know the threat but we’ve worked hard over a long period of time.”
Chelsea’s Magdalena Eriksson featured in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Women’s Super League which was the Blues’ first defeat in the competition since September.
We know the threat but we've worked hard over a long period of time— Emma Hayes
With Thursday night marking the Blues’ seventh game in March, the defender emphasised the importance of not dwelling on defeat with the short turnaround between fixtures.
She said: “We are very experienced in having games back to back so we know we can’t dwell too long on defeat but it’s something we also can’t ignore so we’ve looked at it, we’ve talked about it, we’ve dealt with it and learned from it and now we’ve moved on and now we’re ready for tomorrow.
“The response has been great (from Sunday’s defeat), we’ve looked inwards, we’ve parked it and moved on so now we are really excited about the game tomorrow. I think playing in the Champions League is what us players dream about. Tomorrow you’re going to see a really hungry Chelsea.”Hayes insisted Chelsea’s 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the 2021 final will fuel their motivation against Lyon.
“Sure, I want to be in the biggest games so there is no doubt that is a motivation (2021 Champions League final defeat) for me,” she said.
“But my motivation isn’t led by one single thing to be the very best at something, you can’t just talk about it, we have to do it every day on the training pitch, in every game and my challenge for the team tomorrow is ‘demonstrate it, demonstrate everything you’ve worked so hard on to put this club in this position’.”
