Latest news with #EmmaHayes'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘It's 50-50': Bompastor wary of ‘strong' United for Women's FA Cup final
After 465 matches and 2,445 goals, a record 514 clubs have been whittled down to two. On Sunday Manchester United and Chelsea will face each other in the Women's FA Cup final for a second time. Chelsea won 1-0 in 2023 to deny United in what was their maiden FA Cup final appearance, something Marc Skinner's side avenged last season by beating the Blues in the semi-finals to limit Emma Hayes' final season trophy haul to one. United went on to beat Tottenham 4-0 in the final to secure their first major trophy following promotion from the Championship. Now they have a chance to demonstrate exactly how far they have come, as they bid to retain their crown against a domestically unbeaten Chelsea looking to land a treble. Advertisement More than 85,000 tickets have been sold for the showdown at Wembley, 10 years on from the first time the national stadium hosted the final. The hope is that the numbers through the turnstiles actually breach the 80,000 mark for the first time, having teetered just below that for the past two years. New Chelsea minority owner, Alexis Ohanian, is expected to be in attendance with his wife, the 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams, while Olly Murs will perform before kick-off. Increasingly a star-studded occasion, the Women's FA Cup final continues to be a boundary-pusher, acting as an indicator of the potential in the women's game for mainstream attention. Related: 'We want to push for more': a Chelsea treble would not be enough for Catarina Macario The last time Sonia Bompastor stepped on to the Wembley pitch was in 2012, when she lined up for France in the semi-finals of the Olympics against Japan in front of 61,482 spectators, a match the French lost 2-1 to miss out on a chance to return to the stadium for the final. Now she is back pitchside hoping to end her first season as Chelsea manager in gloriously dominant style. It is these sorts of occasions that persuaded Bompastor to manage in England after a lengthy career at eight-time Champions League winners Lyon, first as a player and later as the manager. 'The fact you can play in front of thousands of people at a historic stadium and win one of the most famous trophies in England, the FA Cup, is something that potentially only happens a few times in your life,' she says, adding that winning the domestic treble would make this a 'really good season' but 'not a perfect one because we missed one trophy'. Defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals still weighs heavily. Advertisement The Women's FA Cup will be broadcast on Channel 4 and TNT Sports from next season in a three-year rights deal with the Football Association. They succeed the BBC as the broadcasters in the first standalone deal for the competition. The BBC extended its Women's FA Cup deal in 2019, agreeing to air both semi-finals and the final and to put out highlight reels and short videos. The new deal will bring a significant increase in the number of games broadcast live, with coverage guaranteed from the first round. TNT is to air 19 matches across the season and Channel 4 has committed to one match per round from the third round, with all six matches co-exclusive with TNT, which also holds rights to the men's FA Cup and men's FA Youth Cup. The Football Association's chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said: 'This is a significant moment for the Adobe Women's FA Cup. We have two broadcast partners who are deeply committed to growing the competition and taking it to new audiences over the next three seasons. Channel 4 and TNT are brilliant sports broadcasters and are the perfect combination for this very special tournament. We are delighted to be working with them and look forward to continuing to grow women's football together.' Advertisement 'I will be really proud for sure, really proud of my players, my staff, but this is a final,' adds Bompastor. 'We play Man United, a team which is used to playing in this final now and they are a really strong team. They haven't conceded many goals and I think we need to be reminded of that as well. This final will be 50-50.' Bompastor's attempts to dull the perception that Chelsea are favourites to win will not get far. The Women's Super League champions have won 13 of their last 15 games against United across all competitions and are heading into their eighth FA Cup final, of which they have won five. The gap is closing, though, with United having scored 18 goals and conceded only once on the way to Wembley. 'We're rebels,' United's manager Skinner says. 'I'm a rebel, my nature is rebellious. It's about not accepting that because they have the best resources, they will be the best team on every occasion. When you set yourself up for that challenge, you know you will have to go through hell to get the victory. When you are prepared for that then you can do something special. I believe in our quality to do that.' Skinner adds that United will have to 'structurally manage the game and be in it consistently' to prevail. 'To beat Chelsea in a final would be another step for us,' he says. 'It's a big team, a big game and there's no doubt it will be a tight game.' Advertisement Skinner laughs when asked about the new £20m investment his rivals have received from Ohanian. 'Do you know what I was thinking? I was thinking that Chelsea need a bit more money and more investment because they haven't quite got enough,' he says. 'Joking aside, I've said this before but I'm not a green-eyed monster. You would be envious of that budget, of course you would, but the investment probably adds more scrutiny to Sonia Bompastor because if you don't deliver the Champions League … the challenge becomes harder in my opinion. 'I do echo what Sonia said: it's great that they want to be the frontrunners in terms of showing how we should invest in the women's game. I don't know how that money is going to be invested but it's great the interest is there. I genuinely mean that, coming from someone who has been in the women's game for so long. We have to find a way to beat that. That's my job. But I'm sure you'll agree, it's fantastic for the game and hopefully more people can do that.' The respect for Chelsea also extends to the pitch but, as Skinner makes clear, that will not hold United back on Sunday. 'They have achieved something incredible this season. But there is no fear.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
📸 US Women's National Team unveil new home jersey
The USA Women's National Team have revealed their new home kit. Designed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the national team, the four-time world champions will debut the strip during their friendly with China on 31 May. A tribute to the trailblazers who have shaped soccer and inspired generations. — U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) May 13, 2025 Emma Hayes' side also face a CONCACAF Championship game with Jamaica on 3 June. 📸 PATRICK T. FALLON - AFP or licensors
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
📸 US Women's National Team unveil new home jersey
📸 US Women's National Team unveil new home jersey The USA Women's National Team have revealed their new home kit. Designed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the national team, the four-time world champions will debut the strip during their friendly with China on 31 May. Emma Hayes' side also face a CONCACAF Championship game with Jamaica on 3 June. 📸 PATRICK T. FALLON - AFP or licensors
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
What to look out for in Women's Champions League quarter-finals
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all feature in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals, which start this week. Domestic rivals Chelsea and City meet in Manchester in their first leg, while Arsenal travel to face Real Madrid. Chelsea's first-leg trip to City's Joie Stadium is the second of four consecutive meetings between the two teams in 13 days, having contested the League Cup final on Saturday and with a meeting in the Women's Super League coming up. So what challenges lurk ahead for the three English sides? BBC Sport takes a look at who's involved and what to watch out for. Given Emma Hayes' success during her 12-year spell as Chelsea manager, it was a lot to expect for new boss Sonia Bompastor to rival such achievements when she took over. However, the transition has been seamless. After 28 games, the Frenchwoman has yet to taste defeat as Blues boss, winning 26 games and drawing just twice. Chelsea's quadruple hopes are still alive after Saturday's 2-1 League Cup final triumph over Manchester City. A sixth successive WSL title is almost within reach, and they are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The Women's Champions League is the only major trophy that Chelsea have not won, but Bompastor has plenty of European experience - winning the tournament twice as a player, while she guided Lyon to the trophy in 2022. The team have Champions League winners Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh in their ranks, with the latter arriving from Barcelona in January, while they also strengthened their backline with the world record signing of American Naomi Girma. Having pushed Chelsea all the way in the WSL title race last season, missing out only on goal difference, Manchester City have had a frustrating domestic campaign so far. Before this four-game run against Chelsea, City made the bold move to sack manager Gareth Taylor and re-hire former boss Nick Cushing on an interim basis. In the WSL, City are fourth and sit 12 points behind the Blues with just six league matches remaining. Realistically, City's hopes of silverware this season rest on the Champions League and FA Cup, but on both fronts Chelsea could be the side that deny them. Cushing led City to two Champions League semi-finals in his previous spell as manager. To make it a hat-trick, his side will have to upset Bompastor's Blues. Arsenal remain the only English team to have won the Women's Champions League. However, that was back in 2007. They haven't made it to the final since. Under Jonas Eidevall, the Gunners' group stage got off to a shaky start with a 5-2 defeat at Bayern Munich - the Swedish manager's penultimate game before he resigned. But they have had more success since Renee Slegers took over, with Arsenal winning their remaining five group matches by an aggregate score of 15-4 to top Group C. Slegers has transformed the north London team into a winning machine with 18 victories in her 22 games as manager. Real Madrid are the only remaining side in the competition never to have reached a Champions League semi-final, so being paired with them could be seen as a favourable draw for Arsenal. The Spanish side stand in Barcelona's shadow in Liga F, while Chelsea beat them in their two group encounters. It has been almost 10 years since a team other than Lyon or Barcelona lifted the Champions League trophy - Frankfurt taking the honours in 2015. Barcelona are going for three in a row after retaining their title with a 2-0 win over Lyon in last year's final. But, as Manchester City showed in the group stages and Liga F minnows Levante demonstrated last month, Barcelona can be beaten. Lyon, on the other hand, might prove trickier. The eight-time Champions League winners have yet to lose this season, except for a penalty shootout loss to Reims in the Coupe de France. Just as Bompastor has excelled since succeeding Hayes at Chelsea, so Joe Montemurro has been outstanding as Bompastor's Lyon replacement. The French league leaders have won 21 of their 23 games this season, while they conceded just one goal in their six European group matches. The draw for the rest of the Women's Champions League took place on 7 February, with the route to the final now mapped out. The winners of Wolfsburg v Barcelona will play the winners of Manchester City v Chelsea in the semi-final, with Real Madrid or Arsenal playing the winners of Bayern Munich v Lyon. Quarter-finals (times all GMT) First leg 18 March: Real Madrid v Arsenal (17:45), Bayern Munich v Lyon (20:00) 19 March: Wolfsburg v Barcelona (17:45), Manchester City v Chelsea (20:00) Second leg 26 March: Lyon v Bayern Munich (17:45), Arsenal v Real Madrid (20:00) 27 March: Barcelona v Wolfsburg (17:45), Chelsea v Manchester City (20:00) Semi-finals First leg: 19-20 April Second leg: 26-27 April Final Saturday, 24 May
BBC News
17-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
What to look out for in Women's Champions League quarter-finals
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all feature in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals, which start this rivals Chelsea and City meet in Manchester in their first leg, while Arsenal travel to face Real first-leg trip to City's Joie Stadium is the second of four consecutive meetings between the two teams in 13 days, having contested the League Cup final on Saturday and with a meeting in the Women's Super League coming what challenges lurk ahead for the three English sides? BBC Sport takes a look at who's involved and what to watch out for. Chelsea Given Emma Hayes' success during her 12-year spell as Chelsea manager, it was a lot to expect for new boss Sonia Bompastor to rival such achievements when she took the transition has been seamless. After 28 games, the Frenchwoman has yet to taste defeat as Blues boss, winning 26 games and drawing just quadruple hopes are still alive after Saturday's 2-1 League Cup final triumph over Manchester City. A sixth successive WSL title is almost within reach, and they are in the semi-finals of the FA Women's Champions League is the only major trophy that Chelsea have not won, but Bompastor has plenty of European experience - winning the tournament twice as a player, while she guided Lyon to the trophy in team have Champions League winners Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh in their ranks, with the latter arriving from Barcelona in January, while they also strengthened their backline with the world record signing of American Naomi Girma. Manchester City Having pushed Chelsea all the way in the WSL title race last season, missing out only on goal difference, Manchester City have had a frustrating domestic campaign so this four-game run against Chelsea, City made the bold move to sack manager Gareth Taylor and re-hire former boss Nick Cushing on an interim the WSL, City are fourth and sit 12 points behind the Blues with just six league matches City's hopes of silverware this season rest on the Champions League and FA Cup, but on both fronts Chelsea could be the side that deny led City to two Champions League semi-finals in his previous spell as manager. To make it a hat-trick, his side will have to upset Bompastor's Blues. Arsenal Arsenal remain the only English team to have won the Women's Champions that was back in 2007. They haven't made it to the final Jonas Eidevall, the Gunners' group stage got off to a shaky start with a 5-2 defeat at Bayern Munich - the Swedish manager's penultimate game before he they have had more success since Renee Slegers took over, with Arsenal winning their remaining five group matches by an aggregate score of 15-4 to top Group has transformed the north London team into a winning machine with 18 victories in her 22 games as Madrid are the only remaining side in the competition never to have reached a Champions League semi-final, so being paired with them could be seen as a favourable draw for Spanish side stand in Barcelona's shadow in Liga F, while Chelsea beat them in their two group encounters. Can anyone beat Europe's elite? It has been almost 10 years since a team other than Lyon or Barcelona lifted the Champions League trophy - Frankfurt taking the honours in are going for three in a row after retaining their title with a 2-0 win over Lyon in last year's as Manchester City showed in the group stages and Liga F minnows Levante demonstrated last month, Barcelona can be on the other hand, might prove trickier. The eight-time Champions League winners have yet to lose this season, except for a penalty shootout loss to Reims in the Coupe de as Bompastor has excelled since succeeding Hayes at Chelsea, so Joe Montemurro has been outstanding as Bompastor's Lyon French league leaders have won 21 of their 23 games this season, while they conceded just one goal in their six European group matches. Road to the final The draw for the rest of the Women's Champions League took place on 7 February, with the route to the final now mapped winners of Wolfsburg v Barcelona will play the winners of Manchester City v Chelsea in the semi-final, with Real Madrid or Arsenal playing the winners of Bayern Munich v Lyon. When are the matches? Quarter-finals(times all GMT)First leg18 March: Real Madrid v Arsenal (17:45), Bayern Munich v Lyon (20:00)19 March: Wolfsburg v Barcelona (17:45), Manchester City v Chelsea (20:00)Second leg26 March: Lyon v Bayern Munich (17:45), Arsenal v Real Madrid (20:00)27 March: Barcelona v Wolfsburg (17:45), Chelsea v Manchester City (20:00)Semi-finalsFirst leg: 19-20 AprilSecond leg: 26-27 AprilFinalSaturday, 24 May
