Sonia Bompastor is relishing the challenge of facing Arsenal in front of a big crowd at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and is under no illusions about the importance of this London derby.
Chelsea sit in second place in the Women’s Super League table, six points behind leaders Manchester City, and will come up against the northern side next weekend with a chance to cut that lead at the top.
First, the Blues need to get the job done against the Gunners, and that’s where Bompastor is placing her sole focus.
‘I’m really looking forward to it,’ said the head coach. ‘I think when you are an athlete or a coach, you want to play in these big games. It will be two top teams competing with each other at Stamford Bridge. We’ll have the support of the fans, which is really exciting. It is obviously a huge game.
‘We would prefer to be top of the table as we were last season, but that's the situation, and we are all clear on that. We know every game is important now, and we need to win each one to collect the three points.
‘That’s where our mindset and mentality are right now. We know what we have to achieve if we want to have a chance to win the title, and we are going into the match tomorrow, taking things game by game, but also making sure we give our all and we don't have any regrets.’
Chelsea are chasing down a seventh consecutive Women’s Super League title this season, and after being the frontrunners in Bompastor’s first campaign in charge, we are now hunting first position instead.
The head coach explained why it’s important to keep putting pressure on the leaders, with plenty still to play for before the end of the campaign.
‘For sure, I wouldn't say we are enjoying chasing Man City,’ she continued. ‘We need to make sure we put pressure on them. We need to win our games and hope they might drop points.
‘They are in good form, and we need to make sure we first focus on ourselves to give us the best chance to win every single game.
‘That’s the only thing we can control right now. The main focus is on making sure we go into every match with the right mindset and the desire to put in a good performance to get the three points.’
Having come out on top of an intense battle against Man City in the Women’s League Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, Bompastor reflected on the quality of the rest of the teams in the league.
Explaining that the finer details can make the difference between winning and losing, the coach emphasised how difficult it is to win the WSL in England.
‘Reflecting on last season, it didn't feel at all easy for us to win the title, and it seems the same this season,’ Bompastor concluded. ‘Every game is a battle, every game is tough in all aspects of the game. Fine margins always decide the result.
‘Man City are top of the table, so congrats to them, but probably the fact that they are playing only one game a week helps them, especially when they are playing English teams, and we are playing away in the Champions League.
‘But every team in this league brings something top quality in either their tactics, the players they have in the squad, or maybe the manager creates something coming into the game in terms of game plan. And I think that's what has made things really exciting in this league.’