Chelsea midfielder Fran Kirby says that last night’s 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge was an occasion to remember.
The Blues secured top spot in their UEFA Women’s Champions League group as a result of their excellent win. Emma Hayes’ side made a strong Paris Saint-Germain outfit look very ordinary in front of more than 10,000 fans at The Bridge.
When speaking to Chelsea’s official media team after the match, midfielder Kirby said that winning the group at Stamford Bridge with a big victory over Paris Saint-Germain was very special.
“It was a really special night, to win the group at Stamford Bridge was really special,” Kirby said. “Like we said at the beginning of the Champions League run, we said that we wanted to win this group. We saw the competition and we knew it was going to be tough but we like to test ourselves against the best teams.
“I felt that it was a really positive performance. The first 15 minutes was a little bit cagey but after that, we really got into our flow and rhythm.”
Chelsea had already qualified for the quarter-finals ahead of the match but Kirby revealed that the team still saw the game as a ‘must-win’ fixture.
She said “It was really important. Obviously, we knew that we had qualified after the last result but for us, we had been speaking all week about wanting to win the group. It was not a case of ‘we have already qualified so it doesn’t matter’, it was just as important a game, it was a ‘must-win’.
“We approached it with everything and in the final training session, everyone put in everything. You see the players that have come out on the pitch but the players who are sitting in the stands made it so difficult for us in training, it allows us to have performances like this. A special mention has to go to the whole squad for how we have prepared this week.”
Chelsea will now enter the Christmas break with their next fixture being against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on 15 January.
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