The Women’s Champions League group stage gets underway on Tuesday with Chelsea v Real Madrid among the fixtures.
Chelsea have never won the European competition and have only been in the final once. That came back in the 2020/21 season where the Blues were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona.
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor, who took over from Emma Hayes in the summer, has said: “This is why I came here [to win the Champions League] and I take all the responsibility for that. If we don’t achieve that goal I will be the one you need to blame. I am fine with that and this is something that gives me more power.”
Women’s Champions League: How to watch Chelsea v Real Madrid
Chelsea celebrating a goal in the Women’s Super League (Image credit: Getty Images)
The competition will be free for fans to stream via DAZN this season. The streamer will also be showing selected games on their YouTube channel.
Chelsea v Real Madrid has not been chosen for YouTube but supporters can watch it on DAZN’s site.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The team news will not be announced until an hour before kick-off but there is a star who has returned for Real Madrid that Chelsea will have to keep quiet.
Scotland international Caroline Weir is back on the pitch after recovering from an ACL injury. The 29-year-old has started the season brightly in Liga F and is sure to play a part for the Spanish side in Tuesday’s game.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have three players out with ACL injuries. Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel and Sophie Ingle are all unavailable because of the issue.
But they don’t lack star quality with one of their biggest signings of the summer, Lucy Bronze, having already won five Women’s Champions League titles. England international Bronze won three with Lyon and two with Barcelona.
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Bronze, who won the Euros with the Lionesses in 2022, has told The Guardian she is confident they can win the European title: “Sonia and I had a chat about this. She said to me: ‘What do you think is missing at Chelsea?’ And I was like: ‘Nothing, they’ve got everything.’ Sonia replied: ‘I know, I thought that as well.’”
It has been the trophy that has evaded Chelsea and in FourFourTwo’s opinion while they have the talent and tactical nous to win it, teams like Barcelona and Lyon may still be too strong to overcome for the Blues.
When has Lucy Bronze won the Women’s Champions League?
Bronze joined Lyon in 2017 and won her first Women’s Champions League trophy that season. She went on to win the title two more times with the French club, in successive seasons in 2018/19 and 2019/20.
She then re-joined Manchester City for two seasons before signing for Barcelona. The Spanish giants were the club she won the WCL with a further two times.
Bronze first lifted the trophy with Barca in the 2022/23 season and she did so again the following campaign.
