Sonia Bompastor marvels at Chelsea’s mental strength on ‘perfect night’ | OneFootball

Sonia Bompastor hailed “a perfect night” at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea overturned a two-goal deficit against Manchester City to set up a mouthwatering Champions League semi-final against holders Barcelona.

“Tonight was a perfect night for us,” said Bompastor. “To be able to play again at Stamford Bridge with our fans and turn things around, I’m really proud of my players. It was a difficult challenge but we really believed it was possible.”

Three first-half goals from Sandy Baltimore, Nathalie Björn and Mayra Ramírez turned the tie on its head following a 2-0 defeat last Wednesday, and Chelsea’s press, battling spirit and squad depth was the difference.

“The mental aspects in terms of performance are sometimes 70-80% of the performance and result. So, having belief and mental strength going into the game was important,” said Bompastor.

Nick Cushing said he was “disappointed we didn’t progress but immensely proud of the group”, after City battled to come back into the tie. “It’s been hugely positive in terms of the desire and commitment of a team that has had a lot of stress and strain over the last two weeks,” the Manchester City interim head coach said. “To still be in it and be pushing at the end shows me a lot. We’ve shown our togetherness, fight and spirit is there.”

Cushing conceded that “depth is definitely the difference between the two teams at the moment, based on numbers” and said City were in “a period where fortune hasn’t favoured us in terms of injuries to key players”.

City may be missing a host of key players, but Chelsea are too and a deep squad is critical, said Bompastor. “It’s really important, the league is really competitive and if you don’t have depth in your squad it’s impossible to achieve your goals,” said the Chelsea manager. “The intensity at this level is really high.”

On the prospect of Chelsea facing Barcelona at the semi-final stage for the third time in three years, losing 2-1 on aggregate both times prior, Bompastor said: “We will do everything possible [to win]. Barcelona has a lot of experience and talent in their squad. I was watching their game [against Wolfsburg, which they won 6-1 and 10-2 on aggregate] before ours. It will be a tough challenge. But in football, everything is possible.”

Header image: [Photograph: John Walton/PA]