On a hot day in San Sebastian, the Blues kicked off looking to build upon our 5-2 win from Plough Lane the week before. The first half saw the two sides battle against each other with Chelsea in firm control of possession.

The second period began with intensity. An Aggie Beever-Jones shot was palmed away by goalkeeper Julia Arrula, and from the resulting corner, the ball fell to Keira Walsh well outside the box, and the England international took the opportunity to hit the shot to put Chelsea 1-0 up and four goals ahead overall.

The contest was a tight one, and our Spanish opponents once again proved that they are a force to be reckoned with. Yet the work had been largely done in the final 20 minutes of the first game, setting us up to take a three-goal advantage into this fixture.

Changes made

Sonia Bompastor made four alterations to her starting lineup following our 5-2 victory over the Spanish side at Plough Lane last week, bringing Lucy Bronze, Kadeisha Buchanan, Wieke Kaptein and Lexi Potter onto the XI for the return leg.

The match began as it had on home turf: with Real Sociedad keeping the Blues at bay with their well-organised setup. It took 18 minutes for the first real chance of the game when Lauren James released Ellie Carpenter down the right with an insightful pass, but the Australian had her cross intercepted before it could reach Beever-Jones in the middle of the penalty area.

James and Carpenter combined again a few minutes later to pick out Walsh, and the midfielder was able to get the shot away, but the ball rolled comfortably into the goalkeeper's arms.

There was then some brief danger up at the other end of the pitch when Sociedad's Ava Seelenfreund burst through into the box, but a smart recovery tackle from Naomi Girma stopped the striker in her tracks.

Yet the advantage was firmly with Chelsea as we put pressure on the home side, Carpenter getting round the full-back again after almost half an hour and forcing the goalkeeper to get down quickly to make the save.

The breakthrough

Half-time saw midfielder Giulia Dragoni make her competitive debut for the Blues as she came on in exchange for James after the break. There was a sharper attacking intent from Chelsea, and we soon made the breakthrough when Beever-Jones forced a good save, and Walsh hit one of her trademark shots from range beyond the goalkeeper from the resulting corner.

The four-goal overall deficit spurred the home side on to throw caution to the wind. Ainhoa Marin, who scored in the first leg, went close before Kadeisha Buchanan was called upon to make a key tackle inside the box to prevent another chance. Naomi Girma then headed clear a further chance from the home side's fourth corner inside the space of two minutes.

Closing out the victory

Sociedad's competitiveness really made things tough for Chelsea, and although we were restricted in terms of clear-cut chances, there were plenty of positives to take from the evening.

Substitutes Alyssa Thompson and Maika Hamano caused plenty of problems with their movement up front, while Nelly Las gave a good account of herself as she also made her competitive debut for the Blues.

Qualification secured

This was by no means a classic Chelsea performance, but the most important factor was to get the job done and we did so with professionalism and control. After the first leg, Sociedad could've gone all out in attack to reduce the deficit, but they stayed true to themselves as they worked hard to keep us from extending the lead even further.

We now head into Saturday's WSL clash with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge knowing that we have already secured an important objective with only two games played. We will now compete in this season's Women's Champions League, beginning with the league phase.

What it means...

Chelsea are through to the league phase, and we will discover our opponents on Friday when the draw is made in Nyon.

Up next...

We take on Aston Villa in the Women's Super League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday at 12.35pm and you can still secure your tickets by clicking here!

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Girma, Buchanan, Bronze (c), Walsh (Hamano 61), Potter, Kaptein, Baltimore (Sarwie 61), James (Dragoni h-t), Beever-Jones (Las 72)
Unused substitutes: Peng, Spencer, Buurman, McCabe, Nusken, Thompson (Carpenter 61)
Scorers: Walsh 54

Real Sociedad: Arrula, Florentino, Vicente, Aparicio, Fernandez (Lezeta 84), Camino, Marin (Aparicio 83), Eguiguren, Seelenfreund (Eizaguirre 58), Campo, Cahynova
Unused Substitutes: Mendiburu, Laborde, Marcos, Chacon, Isasisasmedi, Soroa

Booked: Camino 38, Cahynova 60, Florentino 67

Referee: Ivana Martincic