Chelsea, the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the future
The world—but especially the teams in the Women’s Super League—know how dominant Chelsea has been in the domestic leagues. Back-to-back domestic doubles are quite impressive given the development of the WSL. However, the UEFA Women’s Champions League has always been something where success has not come quite easily. Barcelona and Lyon have won the past seven UEFA Women’s Champions League titles and relatively cruised to the final when the two collided at Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy.
A shocking elimination from the Champions League this past season in the group stage only exaggerates the fact that the only thing Emma Hayes and the Chelsea Women have not conquered is the European trophy. The 4-0 loss to Wolfsburg back in December of 2021 stunned all of Europe and put a team that went all the way to the title match the year before just fighting for prizes in its respective country. The Blues have the talent to be able to compete with the best of the best on the continent, but heading into the 2022/23 season, they will be trying to rewrite the regular Chelsea narrative in the Champions League.
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What does the future hold for Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League?
It is difficult to come up with a manager or a striker that are of higher quality than Hayes and Sam Kerr. The WSL is a growing league, to say the least, and the lack of competition could be coming back to bite the Blues. The fact of the matter is the WSL is getting better as more and more talent is being produced at a consistent rate, and with that should hopefully come more success for WSL teams in European competitions.
A regression in the Champions League should set an alarm off with Hayes to motivate her team to get back to the pinnacle of European football. The National Women’s Soccer League may have more talent and quality throughout the league, but it simply cannot compare to a competition that possesses teams from all across the continent. Juventus and Wolfsburg are not more talented than Chelsea, and with all the buzz that Hayes has nothing left to win at this club, there is no doubt she is hungry for success in a competition she has not figured out a way to crack.
No English team has won the Women’s Champions League since 2006 when Arsenal behind the brilliant mind of Vic Akers. Chelsea’s 4-0 loss in the 2021 final was the largest defeat in the Women’s Champions League final since 2009. That first half performance against the Blaugrana was not indicative of how talented that team was. Giving up an own goal in the first 60 seconds of the contest brings down the confidence level before the mind of all the players gets adjusted into the in-game mindset. English teams struggling in the Champions League has much to do with the lack of competition in the domestic league, but that should not be an excuse for a team that has a plethora of talent and the quality on both ends of the pitch like the Blues. Manchester City is growing as a team along with Manchester United, who wants to make some inroads in women’s football in the foreseeable future.
The Blues squad is aging each year, and Hayes has admitted that in the past. If there was a perfect season to accomplish the things that they have not done in the past, it is the one on the horizon. While the win in the WSL is important, the entire squad should have its eyes set on making it to Philips Stadion in Eindhoven for the biggest game in Europe. There has been a barrier between Chelsea and the immortality of winning the UWCL during all the success of the Hayes era. The Blues keep knocking on the door, but in reality, they need to kick the door wide open and take the success that it has cultivated in the WSL and translate it to a much larger competition.
Despite the fact that this team is getting slightly older as the years go by, its younger players like Jess Carter and Jessie Fleming are what could make the difference. In 2021, Carter started the Champions League final, but she was not the player that played lights out the entire season in ’21/22. Players evolve, grow and learn. Ji So-yun is not going to be walking through the door anytime soon, but the things that she taught the players that will be there next season should live on. Chelsea should not and will not overreact to what transpired in the UWCL in December.
The entire team has to be willing to learn from that experience, and seeing how much success following that point in the season, there is no doubt that it did. The words “Champions League” are two of the most daunting words in all of football. Given the success domestically—just like Manchester City on the men’s side—there is no question that one day, Hayes is going to reach the top of the mountain in Europe. If there is going to be a time to do it, next season looks like the one that the Blues must have massive continental aspirations before time finally runs out.
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