Seldom have Chelsea Women looked quite as tested as they did after the first leg of their Champions League tie in Germany against Bayern Munich – a 2-1 defeat which leaves it all to do at Kingsmeadow.
That critical midweek draw up at Manchester against City (the game rightly billed as the title decider) took more out of the team than even relieved manager Emma Hayes calculated.
How she will be cursing the fact that with the Blues 3-0 up at halftime against London City Lionesses a fortnight ago she didn’t use the interval to preserve her most important asset, Magda Eriksson.
She made two substitutions as Chelsea cruised to a 5-0 win... but she could have made five and kept her captain and Mel Leupolz safe and sound for the bigger fights around the corner, instead of leaving them on the field in a meaningless fixture.
With a quarter of an hour to go, and the match beyond doubt, the Swede fell awkwardly on her ankle and limped off, giving Sophie Ingle only a few minutes to come on and practise being a centre back.
Eriksson’s absence ever since has underlined how Hayes relies on her to be her eyes and ears on the pitch, marshalling a defence which couldn’t quite contain Bayern’s attacking threat.
A fortuitous away goal (Leupolz knew little about the ball that hit her head and ricocheted in) and a Ji So-Yun close shave left Chelsea with a stern test on Sunday in the home leg of this European semi.
What is needed this week isn’t training, it’s rest.
If Chelsea don’t line up at Kingsmeadow refreshed, relaxed and with 100+ minutes in the tank, they can kiss goodbye to a final in Magda’s home country, and the best chance of European glory for a generation.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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