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Bompastor: Chelsea ready to take 'attack' to City in Champions League

Having beaten Manchester City in the Women's League Cup final, Chelsea hope to follow that up with more success in the Champions League.

Sonia Bompastor urged Chelsea to stay in the same attacking mindset from their Women's League Cup win to overcome the challenges of facing Manchester City in four consecutive matches.

The Blues won 2-1 in the League Cup final against City on Saturday to win their first trophy under Bompastor.

But Chelsea's focus now switches to the European stage, with a Women's Super League match against Nick Cushing's side also to come between the two legs of the quarter-final.

Chelsea have lost just one of their last eight away games against City in all competitions (W4 D3) – a 2-0 defeat in the WSL in March 2023. The Blues won the most recent such meeting, with a 1-0 victory in last season's League Cup semi-final.

Bompastor's side have already beaten City twice this season, but the Frenchwoman insisted that it counts for little going into the Champions League tie.

"It's a different competition and the context is different with two legs," Bompastor said at her pre-match press conference.

"But our mindset remains the same. We will attack the game and make sure we put all the elements into the game to have a big chance to win."

Chelsea are boosted by the return of Keira Walsh, who has missed their last three games through injury.

Only two midfielders have a better pass accuracy in the Women's Champions League this season than Walsh's 93%.

The Englishwoman has ended on the losing side in just two of her last 22 appearances in the competition (W18 D2), for Barcelona against Chelsea in last season's semi-final and against City in this season's group stage. 

She has travelled to Manchester and is in contention to face the side she spent eight years with earlier in her career, but Bompastor also stressed the need to use her squad depth given the congested nature of their fixture list.

"It's a real boost [to have Walsh back]," Bompastor added.

"It's always positive when players come back into the squad, and it gives me even more options going into the game and also having options on the bench. It's really positive news.

"I'm lucky to have a really good squad with talent, quality and depth. So it's important for me to involve everyone in these four games, especially because at some point we will need to have some freshness. That will be important.

"My job is to pick the right starting XI in every game, but as you could see on Saturday, also having players on the bench who could bring energy to the game and help us perform.

"So, for me, it's a team performance, but not just the eleven who will start, the ones who will be on the bench and then bring the right energy and mindset into the game."

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