Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has highlighted to her players the importance of staying in their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Lyon.
The Blues have travelled to the South of France ahead of the first leg this evening. The game sees the 2020/2021 finalists come up against the reigning European champions.
The away goals rule has been abolished, meaning that there is no specific advantage for Chelsea scoring this evening and manager Hayes has highlighted to her side the importance of simply staying in the tie.
“I’ve said to the team that you can’t win the tie here, but you can absolutely lose it,” Hayes said.
“Both teams will spend part of the game working each other out, that’s what happens, especially over two legs.
“We are going to build on the good work that we have had in the group campaign. We understand that there is no away goals rule and I am an advocate for that.
“For us, we have to just keep producing the performances that we have so far in Europe and we are going to see two very good teams play.”
Chelsea were eliminated from the 2018/2019 UEFA Women’s Champions League by Lyon at the semi-final stage, losing 3-2 over two legs. Hayes went on to say that her team are not out for revenge for that defeat.
She said “I think we knew when the draw was made that it didn’t matter who we got. At this stage, these are top teams in Europe, so we are prepared, we are ready, regardless of the opponent.
“I don’t spend my time looking at revenge in life, I look at life as lessons and learnings. I think this team has learnt a lot over time and we are ready for any game that is presented to us.”
Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final, first leg tie against Lyon at the Groupama Stadium kicks-off at 5.45pm this evening.