Chelsea’s Women Reignite Quadruple Dream

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Chelsea women celebrating
Katie Chan | Wikipedia

Emma Hayes was, and always will be, a Chelsea legend. She was boss of the women’s team for well over a decade and in her time with the Blues led them to pretty much every trophy going. She oversaw the most successful period in the club’s history and led them to a massive seven Women’s Super League (WSL) titles, as well as five FA Cups and two League Cups.

The reason for the “pretty much every trophy going” is that the obvious omission from her impressive silverware collection is perhaps the biggest of the lot. Chelsea may be the most successful side in the modern era of English women’s football but they have never managed to win the Champions League. They have never triumphed in any international tournament, in fact, with their appearance in the 2020/21 Champions League final – under Hayes – as good as it has got.

Chelsea’s former boss is now in charge of the United States and there were some doubts about how the Blues would fare in the post-Hayes era. With mounting challenges coming from the likes of Man City, Man United and Arsenal, some questioned whether Chelsea would be able to maintain their dominance.

New head coach, Sonia Bompastor, soon laid such fears to rest. The former Lyon boss, who played 156 times for France, has fitted into west London life seamlessly and Chelsea look as good as ever. 15 wins and two draws in their opening 17 WSL fixtures has Chelsea eight points clear at the top of the table. They recently beat Man City 2-1 in the League Cup final, whilst they look forward to an FA Cup semi against Liverpool in mid-April. However, it looked like Bompastor, who guided Lyon to the Champions League title in 2021/22, would have to wait to win that competition again with Chelsea.

The Blues have been getting very familiar with Man City of late, and though they beat them in the League Cup final on the 15th March, then won 2-1 at City eight days later in the league, they suffered a major setback when the teams met in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. The game took place in Manchester on the 19th of March and the home team won 2-0 to put one foot in the semis. However, eight days later, in the fourth meeting between the rivals in just 13 days, Bompastor’s side turned the tables and put two feet of their own firmly into the Champions League semis.

3-0 Means the Quadruple Is Back on the Cards


Bompastor has been there and done it at the highest level as both a player and a manager. Many of the Chelsea squad have too, and even if the club has never won this tournament, they have several players who have won major international silverware, plus league titles and cups with the Blues and other sides.

They would never believe themselves to be out of the tie and whilst overturning a 2-0 first-leg loss was always going to be tough, there was real belief that they could do it. The group of players that Bompastor has at her disposal is as talented as any seen in women’s football in England.

Talented New Players

To the excellent group they had last year, the club has added Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh from Barcelona. Plus perhaps the best defender in the world, Naomi Girma, from San Diego Wave. They also brought in Sandy Baltimore and Oriane Jean-Francois from PSG and some other good players too, more than compensating for the loss of Fran Kirby, Jess Carter and some other talented players.

They started their key second leg with Bronze, Millie Bright, Baltimore, Walsh, Lauren James and other world-class players on the pitch and in the end, they overwhelmed City. The away side brought stars of their own, including striker Vivianne Miedema, but the hosts were simply too good.

A Strong Start

Baltimore opened the scoring after just 14 minutes, igniting the atmosphere at the Bridge, where almost 11,000 fans were making themselves heard. Chelsea were pressing high and made just the sort of fast start their coach would have wanted. Lucy Bronze, who has won the Champions League five times, hit the post and when the ball then fell to Baltimore she thumped it home into the far corner.

Swedish defender Nathalie Björn, signed from Everton in January 2024, then headed a second with just 38 minutes to level the tie on aggregate. She had hit the post from a corner at 0-0 but found the net this time to keep Chelsea’s momentum flowing. City were desperate for half time to come but they were unable to hold out till the break.

And a Strong Finish

With 43 minutes on the clock, Colombian Mayra Ramirez put the hosts three to the good on the night and into the lead overall. The former Levante forward notched after good work from James and at half time there was only ever going to be one winner in this one.

Bompastor’s side then controlled the second half and kept City firmly at arm’s length. They restricted the visitors to a few speculative efforts and never really looked troubled. Miedema and others had the occasional half-chance but nothing to overly worry Bompastor and the home fans, whilst at the other end Chelsea could have added to their tally.

In the end, it was job well done, with 3-0 sufficient to book a spot in the last four of the Champions League. The quadruple is back on and the European dream lives on. If City have become familiar rivals this March, the Blues’ opponents in the semis are also one they know well.

Barca Again


Chelsea have a number of former Barcelona players in their ranks and, moreover, they have faced the Catalan giants at this stage of the competition before. The two faced one another in the semis last year, as well as in the season before that. It was also Barcelona that beat the Blues in the final in 2021.

To say that Chelsea are out for revenge would be an understatement but it feels like they now have the experience, firepower, belief and class to push Barcelona harder than ever before. The two legs take place on the 19th/20th of April and then the 26th/27th, with the Spaniards at home in the first leg.

Arsenal face Lyon in the other semi, so an all-London Champions League final could be on the cards. That said, Lyon and Barcelona have won this competition nine times between them since 2016, with no other club having tasted glory since Eintracht Frankfurt won in 2015. We have a high-class semi-final line-up to savour and both ties could be thrillers.