Lucy Bronze delivered a rousing post-match speech on the pitch at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, urging her Chelsea teammates to believe they can overturn a 4-1 Champions League semi-final deficit against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Chelsea head coach, Sonia Bompastor, revealed the gist of Bronze’s motivational plea after the heavy loss to the defending European champions. Bronze, who has won the European club title five times – more than any other English footballer, male or female, and equalled only by Gareth Bale among British footballers – spoke to the rest of the Chelsea team shortly after the final whistle.
“The message was: ‘We need to believe it’s possible,’” said Bompastor, when asked what Bronze had said. “The second leg is a new opportunity for us, to play a home game with the support of the fans, and we need to be believe it’s possible to turn things around.”
Chelsea were beaten for only the second time under Bompastor and she has also refused to concede the tie. “It will be difficult, because we will have to create a lot more and also not concede, because if we concede one or two goals then it will be even more difficult,” she said. “But we like to have challenges … We are competitors so we want to show a better picture of Chelsea.”
Chelsea are trying to reach only their second women’s European final, whereas Barcelona are hoping to lift the title for the third straight season. Bompastor won the trophy with Lyon as a player and, in 2022, as their manager.
