Chelsea captain Magda Eriksson says that the club are much stronger opponents for German club VfL Wolfsburg to face than in previous years.
The Blues lost five of their first six meetings with The She-Wolves in the UEFA Women’s Champions League before finally defeating them 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of last season’s competition.
Chelsea and VfL Wolfsburg meet at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday night in the group stage of this season’s competition. The German club have never lost a UEFA Women’s Champions League match on English soil but Chelsea defender Eriksson says that her side are a much stronger outfit than they were in previous years.
“We are definitely a stronger side,” Eriksson told FAWSL Full-Time in the pre-match press conference. “Ever since I joined, Chelsea have gradually got stronger and stronger, the squad has improved and I think now it is safe to say that we have one of the best squads in Europe.
“Wolfsburg have lost a lot of players but they are also bringing in a lot of good young talent so it is difficult to say where they are at. I think it is safe to say that we have got stronger.”
VfL Wolfsburg arrive at Kingsmeadow having scored in 17 consecutive UEFA Women’s Champions League games and Eriksson went on to say that Chelsea must be switched on to their opponents’ attacking threat.
She added “We have to be ready from the start, we know that they are a physical team, a strong team. They have good offensive qualities so for us defensively, we just have to be switched on.
“It is always different playing teams that are not from your domestic league so we need to be ready for anything that they throw at us from the start and not to be afraid to play our own game as well.”
The UEFA Women’s Champions League group fixture between Chelsea and VfL Wolfsburg kicks-off at 8pm on Wednesday evening.