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Last season’s Champions League could hardly have ended in more galling fashion for Chelsea.
Well on their way to an unbeaten domestic treble, the Blues suffered semi-final humiliation at the hands of Barcelona, losing 8-2 on aggregate. Arsenal then rubbed salt in the wound, edging out the Blaugrana in Lisbon to end their 18-year wait for a second European title.
In recent years, Chelsea have made every decision with winning the UWCL in mind. They have come close, but the feeling is that this season – which they open away to Twente on Wednesday night – could be their best chance yet.
Of course, nothing is given. The Gunners will hope to repeat their against-the-odds victory, while Barcelona and OL Lyonnes also return with a point to prove. First-time qualifiers Manchester United, meanwhile, will hope to upset the established order.
Chelsea, though, must bear the cross of being the bookies’ favourite after following a near-perfect campaign with another ambitious summer of transfers. Two-time UWCL winner Ellie Carpenter arrived from Lyonnes alongside highly rated USWNT forward Alyssa Thompson, Sam Kerr’s return after spending almost two years sidelined with a torn ACL is another massive boost for the Blues.
For Lianne Sanderson, a UWCL champion with Arsenal in 2007, there is only one acceptable outcome this year.
“They have to win,” she told Standard Sport. “It's not a matter of ‘are they going to?’ They have to. The pressure is on.
“Winning breeds confidence, and watching Arsenal win the Champions League would have hurt them last year.
“I’d feel sick if that was me and I was a Chelsea player, but would I use it as ammunition to then be better? Yes, absolutely.”
It is a high-stakes season for Chelsea and Bompastor. A restless fanbase has grown used to domestic dominance and is now crying out for a continental honour.
Sanderson added: “Is it a failure if Chelsea don’t win the Champions League? Not particularly, but I don't think they brought in those players and Sonia Bompastor to win the WSL, because they've done that.
“They brought in these players - they haven't said this, but that's pretty obvious to me - to win the Champions League. So the pressure is on them.”
Such is Chelsea’s promise, that the propsect of Arsenal renewing their status as champions has hardly been discussed.
Renee Slegers had a transformative effect on the club when she was promoted from assistant to head coach in October, replacing Jonas Eidevall after a sustained dip in form.
She brought a sorely needed feel-good factor back to the club, and masterminded a valiant final performance to dispatch heavy favourites Barcelona.
The Gunners, thin for defensive and midfield depth, may not have the squad to mount a fresh title charge, but, if nothing else, the mood at the Emirates remains fairly high. Sanderson sees parallels between this Arsenal side, and that with which she won the 2007 UWCL.
“It isn’t always about the quality, it’s about the chemistry as well.
“When we won it, we didn't have the best team, but we had the camaraderie and we had the feeling, and that could take you a long way. That feeling that I felt in my team in 2007, I felt it from the Arsenal team in Lisbon.”
She knows she was brought in to win the Champions League
As Arsenal come into the tournament unburdened, Chelsea have their pride at stake, the Barcelona drubbing still fresh in the memory.
Bompastor has been compared to her predecessor Emma Hayes ad nauseam since arriving in west London, and she will be desperate to prove she can do what the Briton never could.
For former Chelsea and England midfielder Fara Williams, Bompastor will only have one outcome in mind this season.
“She’ll want the quadruple,” she declared. “She was furious after the Barcelona defeat. She believed Chelsea didn't turn up in a manner that they should have. She was frustrated and made that felt.
“She knows that that's why she was brought in, to win the Champions League. So she'll want to do that, along with winning every other cup.”
Chelsea’s white whale has evaded them for years, but Bompastor now has all the necessary tools at her disposal to finish the hunt.
Williams concluded: “She will set high standards and expectations in that team and it's now up to the Chelsea players to be able to deliver it.”
The UEFA Women’s Champions League kicks off on October 7 & 8, with every game live on Disney+ as part of existing subscriptions.
