There is no break for Denise Reddy and the Chelsea Women as they move back into the Champions League, returning to Kingsmeadow for the first match since a 3-1 win over West Ham United at the end of September. This time, the opposition is the nine-time Albanian champions, KS Vllaznia who are coming off a two-goal loss to Real Madrid, shutting the Spanish powerhouse out until the 54’.
Since the international break, the Blues have caught fire, and have not let up even though Emma Hayes remains at home in recovery. In Chelsea’s rain-filled clash with Brighton on the road, Reddy was able to rotate several of CFC’s stars, keeping them fresh for games like this during the mid-week and tougher competition ahead in the Women’s Super League. Knowing what happened in Wolfsburg last season, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the pitch, the Blues are no doubt going to take everyone seriously, especially in a talented field like the Champions League.
Following the win over Brighton, Paul Green spoke on the task ahead against a new Champions League opponent:
"“We’ve got to try and keep that momentum going and keep rolling out the wins, but each game is different. We now look ahead to Vllaznia, a new team we’ve never played before, first time in the Champions League. We don’t know that much about them so we’re getting up to speed with that, looking at the videos and making sure that we’re going to be ready for Wednesday at Kingsmeadow.”"
The Albanian side is making its first appearance in the Champions League and being picked in a group with this amount of quality quickly puts them into the reality of how different the competition is compared to what it is like in the Albanian top flight. Vllaznia sits atop the Albanian National Championship on nine points, netting an astounding 19 goals through just three contests in league play. In the previous two campaigns, Vllaznia fell short of the Champions League group stage by just one game, losing to Juventus 3-0 on aggregate last season, and Belarusian side Minsk the year before that.
Following the loss to Real Madrid in the first match of the Champions League, Vllaznia defender Ezmiralda Franja spoke about mindset heading into this competition:
"“It was not an easy match. We are happy we made it this far. We are happy we are one of the best 16 teams in Europe. This is a different level of football. Our next opponents are tougher, they are stronger opponents than Real Madrid.”"
There is no doubt that this team can put the ball into the back of the net, the only issue is the lack of experience in a competition like this. Trying to get a read on this game is difficult, but at the end of the day, Vllaznia knows that they are overmatched. This is simply a learned experience for Nikolin Leka and his crew as they begin to set the standard that this is where they want to be each season.
The Blues will be thrilled to be back in the confines of Kingsmeadow for two games in a row before it heads north to take on Manchester United. Kadeisha Buchanan is fully rested, and ready to go after not making an appearance against Brighton. This quite well could be the match where Katerina Svitkova shines as she did against West Ham with the Blues potentially aiming to utilize even more of their depth for the second straight match. It may take some time for these two sides to familiarize themselves with each other. The west London side may not know much about Vllaznia, but the Albanian side definitely knows what the Blues have in their arsenal.
Shkodër’s outfit did not record a single shot against Real Madrid, but the defensive fortitude for as long as they did against constant pressure was impressive in itself. The last thing that the Blues want to do is not convert on the chances that come their way like Alberto Toril and his team did last time out. Giving a club that has no expectations whatsoever of getting past the group stage any sort of confidence is a key thing for the Blues to avoid.
Fighting against a low block is going to be the task for CFC as Real Madrid took the patient route to its triumph last week. With the speed and versatility that the Blues have from top to bottom, it should not really matter who the personnel is because anyone is capable of stepping up when called upon.
The Albanians will soak in the opportunity to play a team like Chelsea while the Blues are looking to potentially sit atop the Group A table at the end of the night. Before the Albanian side gets a grip on the Champions League competition, it is going to have to take on clubs like this. Three points in the only result that is acceptable for the Blues. Aston Villa and Manchester United await as the next two fixtures in the league but before all that, the quest for redemption continues.