The Blues recorded a 7-0 victory in Auckland and a 3-0 win in Sydney during our pre-season tour. While the side’s style of play has not yet been perfected, Bompastor felt the team achieved everything they set out to do on the other side of the world.

‘The tour was great for us,’ she said. ‘On the pitch, for us to work on our game model and the way we want to play; we tried different things in both games and I'm pleased with the way the players responded to that. It’s not easy to have come here and have the jet lag, but we tried to enjoy everything as much as possible.

‘Obviously, we are in pre-season, and not everything is perfect. In football it's difficult to get everything perfect. From everything we were working on, I'm really happy, and there were positives from both games.

‘It was difficult for us because, as you could see, especially in the second half, they were really low on the pitch, really compact, so it was difficult for us to find some spaces. I'm happy with the performance we had in that context.’

Defender Veerle Buurman and new striker Melvine Malard were missing from Wednesday’s squad, but the head coach confirmed that there are no major injury concerns for the duo.

‘We didn’t want to take any risks for today’s game,’ said Bompastor.

‘Melvine and Veerle took some knocks at training yesterday. Nothing big, but just a precaution from the game today.’

There is now a long flight home ahead for the team, and while rest will be vital, the work will continue. Chelsea discovered that we will play the first leg of our crucial Women’s Champions League third qualifying round tie at home against Real Sociedad on 26 August, and Bompastor explained that there is a lot of work to do to ensure we progress to the league phase of the competition.

‘For me it’s important now to fly back and to recover from travel as quickly as possible but also to make sure we keep working hard,’ she continued. ‘I think that's the mentality we want to have.

‘We will prepare for the next game. The Champions League game is coming, and we'll make sure the players are in the best place possible in all aspects of the performance. We have a plan for the next ten days to be ready for that, but also to be ready to start the league again.

‘When you approach a Champions League game, you always want to be the best prepared possible. That’s important because you can see in Europe, there are no weaker teams. Everyone is getting better, and the competition is becoming more difficult.

‘We need to prepare for the game as if it were the last game in the Champions League. The reality is that if we lose both games or one, and we don't get the result we want, we will be out of the Champions League. So it's a must-win game, and I think that's important for us to prepare accordingly.’