Sonia Bompastor 'not happy' with Chelsea performance in UEFA Women's Champions League victory over Celtic
Published 14/11/2024 at 10:04 GMT
Sonia Bompastor was critical of Chelsea's performance levels in their 2-1 UEFA Women's Champions League victory over Celtic on Wednesday, saying her side "needed to do a better job". The Women's Super League outfit went 1-0 down midway through the first half, but recovered to fire home two quickfire strikes before the interval and sat on their slender lead in a lowkey second half.
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Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor said her side "needed to do a better job" after labouring to a 2-1 victory over Celtic in the UEFA Women's Champions League on Tuesday.
Murphy Agnew gave the European debutants a 1-0 lead on 22 minutes, but Maika Hamano and Ashley Lawrence both struck within four minutes to put Chelsea ahead at the break - a one-goal cushion which Bompastor's side sat on in a low-octane second half.
And the former Lyon boss was disappointed her side did not make the tie more comfortable, saying they struggled to deal with the "Celtic mentality".
"I knew it would be a tough game for us, especially because of the Celtic mentality," Bompastor said. "They showed a lot of heart and they played with a lot of energy. We were expecting that they were going to be really motivated.
"Also, as a manager, I decided to rotate my squad, so sometimes it can happen that the players don't get the same chemistry together. But I wanted to have a better impression from my team. I'm really happy with the three points and the victory, but not really happy with the performance. We were not efficient enough tonight.
"Every game is always an opportunity to learn. Tonight I learned a lot and I will share that with my players as a team, but also as individuals.
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"There are some positives. With our squad, we are still able to rotate players and rest some. We have the three points and the victory, so we stay in the good dynamic for that, but in terms of the performance, we needed to do a better job in different aspects.
"As a manager, I always have different plans for the game and the three substitutions were planned. That's the positive. We are just now moving on and going into the Manchester City game exactly with the plans we wanted to have."
The slender victory ensured Chelsea maintained their perfect start since Bompastor succeeded club legend Emma Hayes in the summer - picking up a ninth consecutive win.
But the clash in Glasgow was the first time the WSL side had to overturn a deficit to win, and while Bompastor felt that was "positive", she also thought her side "were not efficient" in front of goal.
"It's a positive thing," the Chelsea boss added. "We didn't really get stressed about the situation. We were confident enough to stay in the game, play and score the two goals.
"I think we could have scored a lot more. We were not efficient tonight, but at least we didn't concede more than one."
The two sides clash again at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, November 20 as Celtic look to rise from the foot of the Group B table - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024/25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.
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