It soon became apparent that Real Sociedad would not be easy to overcome as Ainhoa Marin scored with a stunning looping strike after just seven minutes. Naomi Girma then put us back on even ground with a header from a Katie McCabe corner, but the Blues went in at the interval with the scores locked at 1-1.

The second half saw Chelsea emerge with renewed vigour, Sjoeke Nusken seeing her attempt ruled out for offside before young defender Veerle Buurman rose up to deliver a powerful header across the line soon afterwards. Our Spanish visitors fought back almost immediately, Cecilia Marcos' strike putting Sociedad back on even terms.

That Sociedad were so determined made what happened next all the more impressive. An inch-perfect through-ball from Nusken picked out Melvine Malard, allowing her to slot home on her debut. Next came a wonderful run from Ellie Carpenter down the right as she then picked out Lauren James in the box and the forward made no mistake with her emphatic finish.

An exceptional evening in Wimbledon concluded with our fifth goal. Carpenter once again powered down the flank, delivering a cross for Malard, who marked her first competitive appearance in Blue in some style.

Behind early

Head coach Sonia Bompastor was serving a suspension for this match, leaving assistant Camille Abily to take charge of the team.

And the match began with Chelsea in firm control of possession and dictating the tempo of play. Yet, after captain for the evening Naomi Girma had confidently shepherded a through-ball into touch, it was the Spanish side who took the lead thanks to a moment of brilliance from Ainhoa Marin.

The Sociedad number eight received the ball on the corner of the penalty area, lofting it over the outstretched Hannah Hampton before the ball nestled perfectly in the far corner, putting the visitors ahead with only seven minutes on the clock.

Chelsea still had plenty of attacking intent, and Sandy Baltimore was unlucky not to level the scores when she smashed an attempt onto the underside of the crossbar. The woodwork then came to the rescue for the Blues at the opposite end when Sociedad fired another dangerous shot towards goal, but the offside flag soon went up.

Opening our account

The equaliser came from a well-worked set piece. McCabe, on her full debut for the Blues, took the inswinging corner for captain Girma to flick the ball up and over the goalkeeper with a header with 30 minutes gone.

Moments later, the Blues almost went ahead when Aggie Beever-Jones received the ball in space inside the box, but she dragged her shot just wide of the left-hand post.

The Spanish side were providing a real test: well-organised, positionally disciplined and working hard to keep us at bay. For that reason, Chelsea went in at 1-1 when the half-time whistle blew, and there was more work to be done after the interval.

End-to-end

Shortly after the restart, Sjoeke Nusken had the ball in the back of the net, but the flag was raised to swiftly rule it out. And when James took a dangerous corner-kick, Buurman rose high above every player inside the box to nod down a pinpoint header to put us ahead for the first time in the contest.

But that lead would last just four minutes when Marcos rifled in a right-footed effort from inside the box, and the scores were tied once more.

Chelsea weren't done, though. When Wieke Kaptein laid the ball off for Nusken 20 yards from goal, the Germany international played a perfect through ball for debutant Melvine Malard, allowing the France international to round the goalkeeper and slot home.

In the driving seat

There was a sense that Real Sociedad were tiring, and when Carpenter powered down the line, her defender slipped at the crucial moment, allowing the Australian to pull the ball back for the onrushing James, who finished emphatically under the crossbar.

Chelsea were now in the ascendancy, and substitute Maika Hamano was inches away from connecting with a pass that would've given the goalkeeper a stern test with ten to play.

Taking a two-goal lead into the second leg would've been good enough, but an almost carbon-copy of James' goal extended our advantage even further. Carpenter advanced down the channel again, her pace beating her marker, when she squared the ball across the box for former-Lyon team-mate Malard. Our new number nine had a brace on her debut, a sure sign of things to come from the striker.

What it means...

We head into the second leg in San Sebastian on Wednesday 2 September with a three-goal cushion.

Up next...

We travel to Spain to face the return leg of this Women's Champions League qualifier against Real Sociedad, before we face Aston Villa at home on Saturday 5 September at Stamford Bridge, our first Women's Super League clash of the season. You can purchase your tickets for that exciting home game here.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Girma (c) (Bronze 64), Buurman, McCabe, Walsh, Nusken, Thompson, James (Hamano 76), Baltimore (Kaptein 55), Beever-Jones (Malard 55)
Unused substitutes: Peng, Spencer, Bjorn, Dragoni, Potter, Las, Sarwie
Scorers: Girma 29, Buurman 54, Malard 67, 88, James 74
Booked: Nusken 24'

Real Sociedad: Arrula, Camino, Aparicio (Isasisasmendi 90), Florentino, Vicente (c), Campo (Laborde 76), Cahynova, Fernandez, Arola Aparicio, Marin(Eizaguirre 76), Marcos
Unused Substitutes: Estensoro, Mendiburu, Eguiguren, Lezeta, Seelenfreund, Carlota Chacon, Soroa
Scorers: Marin 7, Marcos 58

Referee: Silvia Gasperotti