Catarina Macario is "curious and excited" about the challenge presented to Chelsea as they prepare to face Manchester City in four consecutive matches.

The teams first face off in Saturday's Women's League Cup final before playing a two-legged Champions League quarter-final tie, either side of their Women's Super League meeting next weekend.

They are competing against each other in the League Cup final for the second time, also doing so in 2021-22 when the Blues took the lead before City claimed the trophy with a 3-1 comeback victory.

In fact, Chelsea have lost four League Cup matches against City, only losing more against Arsenal (five). They did win the most recent encounter, however, in last season's semi-finals.

Sonia Bompastor's side prevailed in their WSL meeting earlier this season, earning a 2-0 victory away from home, and Macario believes the fact that they know City so well could make it difficult.

"We know them very well, it's something that will be hard and very challenging mentally and physically for both teams, I believe," Macario told Opta Content Agency.

"I'm very curious and excited to play in it, hopefully, and just to see how the teams will line up and see how we'll try to beat each other because, as a player and a fan, it's a very exciting event, so you can see the creative ways in which the coaches will go about trying to beat each other.

"Especially when you know them so well, and you play them four times in a row. I'm looking forward to it, but it will definitely be a tough one."

Chelsea are competing in their sixth Women’s League Cup final; after winning their first two (2020, 2021), they have finished as runners-up in each of the last three seasons.

They are looking to avoid an unwanted record of four consecutive final losses but will feel confident, having enjoyed a stunning run under Bompastor so far this season.

They are unbeaten in their 27 games across all competitions and are still in with the chance of winning a quadruple.

"Obviously, we're very happy with our stats so far," Macario added. "We want to win everything.

"To be able to maintain our streak while getting a trophy would be unbelievable.

"That's something that's part of our standard and how we want to keep going. But at the same time, we want to play well above everything.

"So, I think it's great to look at those stats and to know that we have an unbeaten streak. I think the performance is the most important thing, and we want to do both."