Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that this evening’s opponents Paris FC will provide her side with a tough challenge.
The Blues take on the French club in their second group match in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League under the lights at Stamford Bridge.
Paris FC are enjoying their first taste of the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage after safely negotiating their way through the first two rounds. While the French club are inexperienced at this level, Hayes expects Paris FC to give her side a real test at The Bridge.
“They’re really organised, tough to break down and they are deserving of the position they are in,” Hayes said when speaking in the pre-match press conference.
“They’ve fluctuated between a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1, a very narrow formation, they’re very compact and will make it difficult to play in between spaces. They’re also very good in transition trying to get down the sides.
“We respect them, look at the games that they’ve won so far. In their opening match against Häcken, they were equally as good but they were on the losing side. I think this will be an extremely tough game.”
Chelsea are playing all of their home UEFA Women’s Champions League games at Stamford Bridge this season. Hayes believes that the team will become more familiar with the surroundings with experience.
She said “We love both stadiums (Kingsmeadow and Stamford Bridge) for different reasons. I do feel that Stamford Bridge is becoming more familiar and the more we play there, the better it will be for us.
“The team doesn’t mind where they are but we do understand that for our growth and competition regulations, we have to be at Stamford Bridge but we will embrace that.”
Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixture against Paris FC kicks-off at 8pm this evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.