Treble in sight but next Chelsea want to rule Europe

Metro

18-05-2025

We have an opportunity to claim a Treble for Chelsea at Wembley this weekend and no one should underestimate just how hard that is to achieve.
My first season at the club, and first back in England and the Women's Super League, has seen us win the title by 12 points from Arsenal and the League Cup final against Manchester City.
It is now six WSL championships in a row for the club and victory over Manchester United on Sunday would mean the only thing that has eluded us is European success, following our defeat to my old side Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
That obviously hurt us and it was hard to fall short like that. That said, we will be back next term fighting even harder to win that first European title for the club.
Of course, I wanted to win the Champions League. Maybe it would have been different at another point in the season.
I was speaking to my former Lyon team-mate Ada Hegerberg at a Nike event this week about what it takes to win the Champions League. She has six to her name – so far.
What we agreed on is there is a process – Lyon went through it, Barcelona too – and it doesn't happen overnight. Barca are a well-oiled machine and while the result (8-2 on aggregate) may not look good, it has given us something to work towards.
We have to remember we have gone a league season unbeaten and have had to dig results out when needed.
Chelsea are a club who are judged on what they win. I knew when I came here about the expectation on the team to win every match, certainly domestically. That's how high the standards have been here.
Barcelona are at a different stage of their evolution and are a team that are used to winning in Europe now. But I do believe going 22 WSL games unbeaten should not be overshadowed by our exit from the Champions League. Nobody has beaten us in the league – we should celebrate that.
Arsenal are in the Champions League final and have scored just one goal against us in our meetings this season. I don't know if that's been recognised in some of the team-of-the-year selections.
No team came close to us in the league but maybe there is an expectation that Chelsea will win trophies. We just knew we had to finish the season unbeaten and in the end there was a big gap between first and second.
Our achievements are phenomenal in what is Sonia Bompastor's first campaign in charge since succeeding Emma Hayes.
Celebrating my first trophies since coming back to England was special for me and I'm so pleased for Sonia too. She has been one step away from it being an unprecedented first season here.
Chelsea are serial winners of domestic titles but we will be better in the Champions League for the experience of this season.
Lauren James is looking like the best player in the world when fully fit and Aggie Beever-Jones has come on leaps and bounds. But we simply haven't had the experience of a team like Barca. More Trending I wound up in hospital after drinking 8 litres of water daily
I was brought in to add some of that experience of big matches and feel like I'm growing into the role of senior player here.
I know what it's like to play for the best teams in the world and the expectations that come with that. Chelsea win things, that's what people expect, but it shouldn't be overlooked how hard it is to win trophies. And we hope to make it three on Sunday.
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