Bompastor: Quick return to action helpful for Chelsea after Everton draw

Sonia Bompastor believes a quick turnaround following Saturday's disappointing draw with Everton could be a positive thing for Chelsea, ahead of their Champions League meeting with Häcken on Tuesday.

The Blues relinquished top spot in the Women's Super League last weekend as a Lucy Bronze own goal cancelled out Sandy Baltimore's opener at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea piled on the pressure against opponents who did not manage a single shot on target, firing off 20 attempts of their own, eight of which were on target, and amassing 2.23 expected goals (xG).

But they were unable to avert a 1-1 draw and now sit second in the table behind Manchester City, who trounced West Ham 5-0 on the same day and will be the Blues' next domestic opponents.

But before looking ahead to that top-of-the-table tussle, Bompastor believes having the Häcken fixture come around so quickly offers Chelsea the perfect chance to find their feet again.

"It's important for us to stay in good form, especially on the back of a disappointing result at the weekend," Bompastor said on Monday.

"We also have ambitions in this competition, and right now we are in the top four. That's the goal: we want to be in the top four and stay there.

"Dropping two points at home is never good, but it happens. The good thing with a quick turnaround is you analyse the game and give the players feedback, but you also need to move on.

"You need to focus on something new. We have a new game coming, in a new competition, so it's the best thing for us in terms of moving on.

"So, we want to put in a good performance and get a good result. Staying strong defensively, not conceding too much and keeping a clean sheet would be a good thing."

Chelsea sit fourth in the league-phase table with seven points on the board after three games, with Barcelona, Lyon and Arsenal above them; only the Catalan giants have a perfect record.

Chelsea have lost just one of their 33 group or league-phase games in the Champions League (W24 D8) and are unbeaten across their last 27, since a 4-0 defeat to Wolfsburg in December 2021.

And Häcken's Nordic Wellness Arena holds happy memories for Bompastor, whose first Champions League game as a coach came there with Lyon in October 2021, in a 3-0 win.

Bompastor's 21 Champions League games against teams from outside Europe's big five leagues have yielded 18 wins, three draws, 77 goals scored by her teams, and just 11 conceded.

Naomi Girma and Lauren James are not among Chelsea's travelling squad, but Bompastor confirmed that everyone else is available to face opponents who have only won one of their eight previous home games in the Champions League (D1 L6).