That result, coupled with a well-earned 1-1 stalemate against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, meant that it came down to the last league phase match – a difficult test away at Wolfsburg – to ensure that we made it straight through to the knockout stage without having to play an extra two-legged knockout tie.

And as Alyssa Thompson pointed out after our 1-0 win over Austria Vienna on Wednesday night, we are now in a better position than we were one year ago, even if the performance wasn’t one that will live long in supporters’ memories.

Results in the next five league phase games are not guaranteed of course, especially with a difficult test to come away at Lyon - Sonia Bompastor’s former side. Yet all we could do last night was put three points on the board, and that’s exactly what we did.

Thompson was keen to point this out after the final whistle, and described how the team dug in to secure a victory which could prove to be vital come mid-December, when the UWCL league phase concludes.

‘They were a good opponent, definitely physical,’ she said. ‘But we got the win in the end. We wanted to start the campaign with three points. We didn't do that last year, so we're starting off better than we did.

‘We had to play a little bit to their game at the end, but we won that battle, and we got the three points. We were ready for the physical fight. It turned into that, and then we knew what game we had to play. We're strong, and we know we can play different styles, so in the end we just had to fight it out.

‘We have a deep squad, and we're ready,' added Thompson. 'We showed our fight, and we have a lot of technical ability too, so once we start finishing our chances, we'll be great.

‘It's still early, but we're definitely clicking. We’ve had some injuries too, so once we get everyone back, I feel like we have a super deep squad. We're able to win games, and I think we've been playing well together, connecting, and doing well physically.

‘I feel great with the team that we have, and we know we can put up a fight and play in these physical games.'

Thompson put in a strong performance on the night with three shots on goal, two of which were on target. She also completed ten passes in the final third of the pitch, dribbled the ball successfully six times (the most of any Chelsea player), won both tackles she attempted, and recovered the ball from the opposition on both occasions.

Yet elite players are always looking for more from their performances, and afterwards she felt like she could’ve scored from her attempts, even though they only produced an xG (expected goals) rating of 0.12.

‘I feel like I could've finished my chances,’ Thompson continued. ‘As a forward, I always want to contribute either a goal or an assist, so I feel like I could do better in that for the team. But it was a physical game, so I did the best that I could to try to hold up the ball for the team, move the ball forward and things like that to get the win.

‘It was great for us to get the win, and it gives us a lot of momentum going into this weekend. All the girls just need to rest and recover, and we'll be good. We'll be fresh. I think we're going to play so many different teams and styles during the Champions League, so every test is great for us, and we came out with the three points, so it was a good one.’